Model Behaviour
by Anorexia
Summary: Anorexia.DrugAbuse.Mild Pedophilia.SasukexSakura. All her life she wanted to model, but when her dream comes true, things take an unexpected turn and Sakura spirals into the dangers of modeling. Will Sasuke be able to help her when he himself suffers?
1. Meeting Haruno Sakrua

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto or anything else in this story. I only own the plot thanks to my twisted mind.

Author's note - Alright! I've finally decided to write my Sasuke x Sakura fanfiction. This story is AU and will have OOC moments, also, I am giving out warnings ahead - This story will contain Anorexia and Drug-abuse. Possibly more. If you are uncomfortable with any of these I suggest you leave now. Please do not flame, I don't flame you, so why should you flame me? (Also, please note that when the Anorexia and drug-abuse appear, I do not want complaints. I did warn you about it ahead.) And I also know that Tenten's last name isn't "Ama" but most people do believe it is, and I find it to be a very fitting last name, so I will be giving Tenten the last name of Ama. Also, to you Ino fans, I apologize if I make her seem more bitchy then usual. Alright, now that I'm done being a bitch, lol, you can enjoy the story. (Italics are also Sakura's thoughts...)

* * *

Sixteen-year-old, Sakura Haruno was just your average girl.

There wasn't anything exciting that she could boast about (except for her good grades.) In the small town of Konoha, there wasn't many things to do. Everyone knew everyone and news spread quickly around the city. Sakura didn't do anything exciting in her free time. She was constantly babysitting for her parents friends or studying for school - sometimes both. But unlike the other girls in town, Sakura wanted to become a model. It had been her dream for several years now and had dedicated many of her free-time practicing her runway walk and working on her facial expressions and body posture for different shoots that she knew she'd be forced to do.

"Ino, do you think I could model?" Sakura asked for the first time. Her bright green eyes fixed on the model in the magazine she was reading.

Her friend, Ino Yamanka looked up from her own magazine. "I guess, if you really wanted to. I don't think modeling agencies higher many people with natural pink hair. What about me? Do you think I could do it? People love a blonde with blue eyes."

Sakura sighed. Ino always did have a big ego. "Yes, I think you'd be a great model."

"Thank you!" Ino giggled loudly and went back to reading her magazine. "I bet that if I did go into modeling, I'd be better then Tenten Ama!"

She held the magazine which had a picture of the model, Tenten, in front of Sakura's face and swung it back and forth.

"I'm much prettier then her and I bet I have a lot more talent."

Sakura's eyes danced across the photo. Tenten Ama's body was one to die for. Long thin legs, matching arms, a small waist, and gorgeous chocolate brown hair. The magazine had announced that Tenten was the most beautiful woman of the year, and the youngest at only age seventeen.

"I guess you do..." Sakura mumbled. She always hated how Ino's ego got the better of her and made her think she was better then everyone else. She then decided to change the topic, hoping Ino's ego would go down a little.

"I heard we were getting a new student in class today."

Ino's face lightened up. "Do you think he'll be hot?"

Sakura shrugged. "I'm not sure. We'll just have to wait until he arrives, if the new student even is a he."

"Well come on, if we wanna be the first to meet this new student why don't we get to class early for a change?" Ino tossed the magazine she was reading onto her dresser and grabbed Sakura's hand, rushing out the door.

The girls arrived at their school within ten minutes.

"Hey, Hinata. Has the new student arrived yet?" Ino yelled across the classroom.

A petite girl with jet black hair and large blue eyes gave a small yelp of being startled and crouched her body over to defend herself.

"Oh I-ino. S-sakura..." The girl turned her head to make sure everything was safe. "Um, no...I don't think he's here yet..." She pushed her pointer fingers together and made them wiggle around, showing that she was embarrassed. "Naurto said that he'd be here shortly he went go get the new student..." One of her index fingers pointed to the door.

Ino smiled. "Thanks, Hinata." She then turned her head to Sakura and stuck out her tongue. "See. I told you the new student was a boy."

Sakura rolled her eyes to the back of her head.

_I never said he wasn't..._

She walked over to her desk and took a seat. If Naruto is going to get the new student, then it was going to be a while. Ino soon followed her action and took a seat next to her.

"Look, there's Naruto. Which means the new student should be following soon." Ino whispered in a excited voice. "Oh my god! Look at him! He's so handsome."

Even though Ino thought a majority of the boys they met where handsome, she decided to look this time. Many of the other girls in the classroom where gawking over the boy, and she to followed.

Handsome was just a quick way to describe the boy. He was tall, with black hair that matched Hinata's. His eyes were also black and matched perfectly with his hair. The school uniform they were forced to wear didn't seem to match his style at all. Beige pants and a matching jacket that beared the Konoha school coat of arms wasn't the greatest on anyone. Somehow, this boy made it work in a small way.

Sakura felt the color in her face rise up. "He...is handsome..."

"Damn. They don't make them like that here." Ino spoke once more. Her eyes trailed up and down the boy.

Their teacher followed Naruto and the boy. He cleared his throat and kept the boy up at the front with him.

"Class, this is Sasuke Uchiha. He moved here from one of the Islands." The teacher, Iruka-Sensei, said proudly. "One by one, please stand up and state your name."

Like their teacher had asked, each student in the class stood up and stated their name.

"Yamanaka, Ino." Ino said, giving a 'sexy' pose and brief wink at Sasuke.

Sakura was next. Shyly, she stood up and cleared her throat. "Haruno, Sakura." Unlike Ino and the other students, she gave Sasuke a friendly smiled and sat back down in her chair.

_What's the point or flirting with him?_ She thought, looking at the next classmate who introduced themself to Sasuke. _Little Miss Ino will be all over him and will claim that she's the perfect match for him like she does for every other 'attractive boy' that's in town for a while_.

At last, when every other student had finished their introduction, Sasuke gave a brief story about where had been living before Konoha.

"Thank you Sasuke. Will you please take a seat next to Miss, Haruno?" Iruka-Sensei pointed to the empty chair next to Sakura.

Quietly, Sasuke took his seat.

Sakura shifted her eyes to the boy to get a better look.

He was more handsome up close. Not only was his hair a beautiful shade of black, but had deep navy blue highlights upon it. His eyes were full of sadness and it looked like the boy didn't have a care about many things in the world.

"I have to quickly run and get some papers for your assignment." Iruka-Sensei started. "So, while I'm gone, please read pages 150 to 156 in your History text books."

Being the top student in her class, Sakura had finished the assignment within fifteen minutes. It was mostly pictures anyway. Her eyes shifted towards Sasuke again.

"Sasuke?" She moved her body a little closer to his.

"Hm?"

"How are you liking Konoha so far?" She asked, hoping to at least befriend him.

"It's different." Sasuke replied, not looking up from his book.

"I'm sure you'll get used to it. If you ever need any help getting around the city just let me know. I've lived here since I was born." She flashed a large smile at him.

Once again, he didn't look up from his book.

She sighed.

_I suppose it's better that he ignores me then Ino telling me that I can't have him..._

"Hey Sasuke, do you want to hang out together sometime to get to know more about the 'city'?" Ino called to him in one of her flirting voices.

Sakura was wondering how long it would be until Ino took advantage of the time that Iruka-Sensei had given us to read.

As was to be expected he didn't look up from his book.

One by one, many of the other girls in the classroom took advantage of Iruka-Sensei's absence and made their way over to his seat. Amazingly, Sasuke managed to ignore all the girls that began flirting with him and continued reading his pages.

"What are you all doing out of your seats?" Iruka-Sensei's voice boomed loudly in the classroom. "Did anyone of you even finish the reading I assigned?"

Sakura raised her hand up high. "I did Sensei."

Iruka-Sensei sat down at his desk. "Good Sakura. It will excuse you from the extra homework I'm assigning for everyone's behavior."

The classroom then filled with groans and complaints about the homework.

"If you just did what I assigned and not pester the new student you wouldn't have to do it."

Ino was also a part of the complaints. "Man that totally sucks! I have a hair appointment after school. How am I going to get all the homework done in time?"

"If you want I'll help you..." Sakura whispered back in a hushed voice, hoping not to be caught.

Ino smiled. "Thanks. I don't know what I'd do without your help Sakura."

The girls classes went on for the next several hours. And, like they did after every school day, walked home together.

"Ino...what do you think about Sasuke?" Sakura asked, looking over her shoulder to see if he was heading home her way.

"I think he's really hot. I know you probably think I say that a lot about guys, but this one has got to be the hottest yet!"

Sakura smiled. "He seems a little anti-social. Don't you think?"

Ino shrugged. "I doubt it. I think he's just shy because it's a new town and school. So what do you think about Sasuke?"

A small blush appeared upon Sakura's face. "I think he's...cute...and if he wasn't so 'shy' I'd say he's a really nice person."

Ino giggled. "Sorry, you don't seem like his type though."

Sakura raised one of her eyebrows. "And you are?"

The blonde smiled and nodded her head. "Of course. Like I said; People love a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes"

Sakura lowered her head and glanced at her pink hair that fluttered in the wind as she walked.

_-Is what Ino says true?_

_- No way! Pink is better, cha!_

_- But_ _Ino does seem to attract a lot of the boys with her hair and eyes..._

_- So what? Not all people like blonde hair and blue eyes!_

Her mind argued with itself about what people preferred in looks for the next several moments before coming to an answer.

- _Come on Sakura, you know that Sasuke wouldn't like a girl just because she has long blonde hair and blue eyes. Ino's just all talk!_

"Sakura?" Ino waved her hand in front of the girls face. "Are you spacing out again?"

"Huh? Oh...sorry, I was thinking..."

Ino smiled. "You think to much. Now come on, my hair appointment is in ten minutes!"

* * *

Ino's hair appointment didn't take long. In the short forty minutes they were in the salon Sakura was able to get a couple of the notes down for Ino's neglected homework assignment. While her friend got her monthly split-end trim. After that, the girls headed back to Sakura's house for the next several hours to read magazines, gossip and listen to the latest music from their favorite singers.

Sakura was flipping through her second magazine, unlike Ino, she read almost every article and paid close attention to every little thing that appered.

"Ino, look at this!" She shot up her body and held the magazine up.

"What is it?" Ino turned her head to Sakura's ecstatic body.

"They're having modeling auditions next week in Kyoshi!" Sakura thought on it for a moment. "That's only a four hour drive from here! It says that you have to have photos to give to the agents, must be at least fifteen, and have parents permission. They will also narrow it down to five girls that will become a model. And it's the same agency that Tenten Ama models with!"

Ino stood up. "No way! We have to go!"

The girls hugged each other tightly and squealed, jumping up and down.

"Do you wanna ask your parents now?" Ino asked, still jumping around.

"Yes! And we'll call yours to make sure it's alright too!"

The two of them quickly raced downstairs. With Sakura's magazine in her desperate hands she pleaded with her mother to allow her to go with Mrs, Yamanaka to Kyoshi.

"You honestly want to model?" Her mother raised her eyebrows.

"Yes. Please mom? I'm the right age, I'd have your premision, not to mention the tons of photos Ino and I have of each other."

Mrs. Haruno sighed deeply. "Well...if it's what you want..."

The girls squealed once more and raced to the phone to make sure it was alright with Ino's parents. Luckily for Ino, her parents didn't have to think twice, with an instance they gave their daughter permission and said that they'd gladly drive the girls to Kyoshi.

* * *

Author's note - Alright. I think that's enough for now. It's a hell of a lot shorter then what I wanted it to be but it's just a starting chapter, getting most of the main characters in. I hate writing the first chapter of a story, it's always a pain in the ass and ends up being my worst chapter of them all. So please bare with me until chapter two. Believe me, Sasuke being a new student in school _will_ tie in with the rest of the story. Also, I like to keep my reviewers happy, so I'm letting the majority rule.

'Do you want Ino to get a modeling contract in the next chapter?' and 'Should I keep it in Third Person story writing or change it to First Person?'

It's a simple yes or no. I'm still pending if I want to make her get a contract in the next chapter or not, and if I want to make it first person, I find first person easier to write but I just want to make the people who actually read the story happy.

Thank you for reading.


	2. Usui Agency

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Author's notes - Alright, I finally wrote the second chapter. I'm hoping that when I'm finished it will be longer then my first. I also apologize for taking so long to update it. With two other stories that are demanding constant updates and my health decreasing with each passing week, the updates of this story will be a little slow. Oh, someone made a comment in a private message and asked if I watched the Naruto dub only. That's only half true. I can only spend so many hours sitting at a computer reading blotchy subtitles. Not to mention I hardly have anytime to do so. Besides, I find the dub to be fine and it doesn't give me a headache of a language I don't fully understand.

* * *

"Can you believe it's only two days until we become models?" Ino whispered to Sakura during third period.

It had been such a long week and it was only Thursday. Sakura herself had been counting down each hour until she would go to Kyoshi to see if she truly was model material. Since they found the advertisement both girls had been working harder on applying the right amount and shades of makeup, matching outfits with their hairstyle and shoes, spending hours in front of the bathroom mirror practicing their facial expressions and working to give perfect balance in their walks.

"Yeah, I know. I'm so excited!" She whispered back. "But, Ino...what if only one of us gets the contract?"

Ino's happiness went away in a flash, and came back just as fast. "Don't worry, I doubt that will happen. And if it doesn't we don't need to worry about it. I think we both know who will be getting the contract if only one of us make it." She gave Sakura a large smile before focusing again on the pages she was supposed to be reading.

Sakura's eyes narrowed in confusion.

_If only one of us made it, would it change our friendship? Ino is a prideful person and if I got the contract instead of her, how would she take it? Would she be happy or bitter?_ She sighed and went back to reading the pages as well. _Come on Sakura, you know that if you were the one that didn't get the contract and Ino did, you'd be bitter about it as well._

Her eyes darted over to Sasuke. They hardly spoke to each other and made very little eye contact when they did cross paths.

_Then again, if Ino was given the contract, I could make my move on Sasuke. It seems fair. She gets my dream and I get her hottie of the week._ _But what if Sasuke likes models? Would he find more interest in Ino then?_ She shook her head. _Who said Ino was prettier and more likely to get the contract anyway? Your chances of receiving it is just as high as Ino's._

"You're Sakura, right?" Sasuke's cool voice overpowered her thoughts.

"Oh, S-sasuke! Sakura, I am. Wait, I mean, I - am - Sakura." She quickly spoke out, accidently knocking over her books. "S-sorry. Anyway, what is it that you want?" She blushed from embarrassment as the class burst out in laughter.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her. "If you were paying attention and not daydreaming you'd know that we're Science partners."

"Oh, right..." Sakura mumbled, placing her books on the desk and pulling up another chair for her to sit in. "Um, what's the assignment again?"

"Page 125 - 134. We're supposed to read up to there and do the assignments given through ought the pages." Sasuke already had is book to the correct page and was ready to do any assignment that came up.

"Right." A large blush appeared upon her face.

"Are you finally ready?" He snapped.

She nodded. "Yes, sorry...I'm just a little slow today."

Silence then filled the two, and when an assignment popped up, both did it in silence.

"Hey, Sasuke..." Sakura started. This wasn't how she wanted to spend her first 'alone time' with Sasuke.

"What is it?"

"Um...how's life in Konoha so far?" She chirped out, in hopes of starting a deep conversation with him.

"It's alright," was all he said, with no expressions upon his face.

"That's good. Have you made any friends yet?" She cocked her head to the side and gave him a large smile.

"I don't need friends." He exclaimed, his voice dull.

"I see...do you like models?"

"What?" He lowered eyebrows into a confused, yet irritated expression.

"Do you like models? Sorry, I'm just trying to keep our conversation going."

"...Are you always this annoying?"

"Wha...?" She let out a small gasp. _She_ was annoying? What did that say about her friend Naruto, who was always so loud and obnoxious?

"If you're done bothering me, I'm going back to my seat." He said cooly, picking up his books and papers.

_Annoying? I'm annoying? But I don't have an loud open-mind like Naruto, and I'm not constantly trying to flirt with him like Ino. Yet, I'm annoying?_

* * *

"I don't think Sasuke likes you all that much, Sakura."

"He said I was annoying, but I'm sure if he gave it time he wouldn't think that." Her eyes drifted to the window, Kyoshi was only an hour away and the whole time Ino went on about how Sasuke was meant for her and her 'perfect' beauty.

"I doubt it, he's probably looking for a girl like me. I am more Sasuke's type anyway." She gloated.

"What 'type' would that be?"

Ino's smile dropped. "Um...uh...you know what type I am, so why should I have to explain it to you?"

"But you don't think I have a chance with Sasuke at all, Ino?"

She shook her head. "Sorry, but no. You're just to different."

_What an expected answer from Ino..._

"But what about Shikamaru? I thought you liked him."

"Shikamaru is nice, but he's to lazy to even call me to set up a date. His loss anyway."

"Right. And Ino..."

"Yeah?"

"What if I got the modeling contract and you didn't? Would you still be friends with me?"

Ino stayed silent for a while. "Of course I would, you'd do the same with me, right?"

_Moving the topic back into yourself, how typical._

"You know I would."

The city of Kyoshi was packed. Sidewalks were cluttered with not only trash, but people who were trying to make it back to work in time, cars were side by side and the traffic lights were long. Large buildings reached up the skies which the girls had to crane their necks upwards if they wanted to see the top of them.

The building where the modeling competition took place was a little bit smaller then the buildings surrounding. And unlike the other buildings it was a soft cream color instead of dark blue or brick like the others. Above where the doors where, in large golden letters were the words 'Usui Modeling Agency'.

"This is the place, Sakura!" Ino said ecstatically. "One or both of us will walk out of this place as a model."

Once both girls got out of the car Ino's mom was quickly apply some soft makeup touches and fixing her daughter's hair, in hopes of giving more of an impression to the judges.

_They'll want to see your natural look as well, Ino._ Sakura thought, while she quickly brushed through her long hair. _They want a natural beauty, not some girl plastered with tons of makeup._

"Welcome to Usui Models." A young woman with long fingernails that were painted to match her crimson outfit said. "I'm guessing you lovely ladies are here for the model competition?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes, are their any papers we need to fill out?"

The woman nodded and pulled out some thin applications. "When you ladies are finished with those please take a number and wait in the room down the hall with all the other young girls. Your parents can wait in the room right over there. There are several televisions and food and drinks to go at." She pointed to the right on her left for Ino's parents and then to the room down the hall for them. "And please, when you fill out the application write _neatly_."

The application was simple. Name, date of birth, age, city and country of birth. Questions like that which where in every important application. Sakura was finished within and grabbed two numbers.

"Do you think the competition will be tough?" She asked.

"Ha, I doubt it. None of these girls can match up to my good looks." Ino smiled brightly and ran her fingers through her hair.

Sakura rolled her eyes and kept quiet.

The waiting room was packed with young girls that ranged from fifteen to eighteen, all chatting with each other about themselves and in hopes of becoming a model. Almost all of the girls were wearing their finest clothing and jewelry, the latest fashion top and earrings where on nearly every girl who every now and then cock her head to the side or shift her body to show off to the girl she was talking to.

"Ha! These girls don't have a chance!" Ino whispered, pointing to one girl who wore Gothic-style clothing and heavy black makeup.

"I dunno...she's really pretty. Maybe she will get in."

"Pretty isn't just what they're looking for, Sakura. They want _talent_ as well!"

Sakura sighed. "I'm sure she thinks the same thing about you."

Ino smiled broadly. "Yeah, I bet. And she can tell I have the talent as well."

"Girls, my I have your attention please?" An elderly man's voice overpowered the chattering young woman. "Thank you. Welcome young ladies to the First Annual Usui Model Search. We thank each of you girls for taking time out of your daily lives to be here today and when the day is over, five of you will be new models. And as a special treat for all of you, we'll be having Miss, Ama Tenten."

The room filled with applause and cheers of joy as Tenten made her way onto the platform where the man was standing. Tenten then took over talking.

"Thank you once again for being here." She smiled. "And while you'll wait I'll be singing autographs and taking photos with those of you who'd like them. Now, let the competition begin!" She clapped her hands together, starting another loud applause.

"She's amazing!" Sakura said, trying to overpower the loud clapping.

Ino nodded. "We should _so_ go get photos and autographs with her."

"Oh!" Tenten quickly grabbed the microphone again. "I also forgot to mention that we have a special _male_ model here with us today."

Sakura's eyes quickly danced around the room, looking for a young attractive man.

"Please welcome, Uchiha Sasuke who will be one of your judges." She held her arm out to Sasuke, who made his way onto the platform and stood next to Tenten and the old man.

"What!?" Sakura and Ino screamed together.

"Sasuke's a model?" Ino started.

"But...I've never seen him in any photos before!" Sakura finished.

"Sasuke recently took a leaf of absence a year ago due to family issues, but he's proud to say that he's making a comeback!" Tenten finished.

* * *

The girls stood there awestruck, taking in the information of their crush being a male model.

While they waited in line for their photo and autographs with Tenten, they discussed the news about Sasuke.

"I had no idea.. I mean, he does walk and have proper body posture like a model." Ino stated, keeping a close eye on the girls who walked into the judging room.

"I haven't even seen him in any pictures, and I've been into models for several years now." Sakura's mind quickly ran through all the male model photos she had seen in the last four years. "It's odd...I wonder what happened in his family that made him miss a year of modeling."

Ino shrugged. "I dunno. And do you mind moving forward in line? We're next!"

Sakura quickly pulled out her camera and jumped forward in line.

"Hello." Tenten smiled.

"H-hi." They both stammered.

"Is there anything you'd like me to sign or photos to be taken?" She held her permeant marker up high.

"Oh! Yes of course." Sakura reached into the book bag she brought with her and pulled out a Tenten modeling with several weapons that Ninja's would often use. "This is probably my favorite photo. I'd be so happy if you signed it."

Tenten's smile grew. "Really? That's mine as well." She traced the marker along the photo and handed it back. "It was nice to actually model with something that wasn't makeup for a change." She laughed. "And you? Is there something I can sign for you?"

She was obviously referring to Ino, who just pulled out the magazine photo that advertised the competition.

"We'd also like to take some pictures with you." Sakura waved her camera.

"Of course." She stood up from her table and walked over to an unattended area beside here.

"Who'd like to go first?"

"I would!" Ino pushed Sakura slightly and made her way over beside Tenten. "Sakura, make sure you take tons of photos alright? I wanna go back to Konoha and show Shikamaru."

Sakura didn't completely match up to Ino's request. She only took seven photos of the twenty-five that was allowed.

"I'll go next," she said, handing Ino the camera. "Then we'll take some group."

_Here's a chance to show off what you know. Just do it like we're in front of the bathroom mirror, just like we practiced at home._

She guided her mind and stood next to Tenten, giving a few simple shots. By the sound of the clicking, Ino took one or two less then what she had given her. Quickly handing the camera to the person behind her and asking if they would take some photos for her.

When they finished Ino's name was called up for judging.

She was nervous and quickly applied some makeup and brushed her hair before she went in. "Wish me luck Sakura. Not that I'll need it, I'll be leaving this building as a model for sure!"

For the next fifteen minutes Sakura waited outside the judging room, reading through another magazine that she brought along with her.

When she came out of the judging room. She was as proud as ever. "They gave me so much positive feedback. The only problem was my weight, but it's not like that's going to be a big deal."

Sakura raised one of her eyebrows. "Your weight was the only problem?"

Ino nodded. "Yeah, but like I said; it's not like that's going to be that big of a deal."

Sakura's name was then called. Never in her life had she been so nervous and was almost ready to pass out from fear. "Wish me luck, Ino..." She stuttered, walking into the judging room.

_Calm down, you can do this..._ She told her panicking body. _This will be easy, you know what you're doing and you know what they what they want...just practice like you're with Ino._

"Hello, welcome to the 'Usui Model Search.'" The old man from the beginning said. "Please state your name, age, city, height and weight before we continue."

"Yes, of course. I'm Haruno Sakura, Age sixteen, from the city of Konoha." Sakura rambled off her information quickly yet clearly. "My height is 5"7 and I currently weigh 120lbs."

The group of people that sat in front of Sakura quickly began whispering to each other.

"120lbs, is a lot..."

"Yes, but Tenten weighed 125 when she started, look at her now..."

"We can work with it. I mean, this girl has a unique beauty that is highly rare to find these days."

When they finally finished criticizing her, they began to ask her questions.

"So tell me Sakura," Sasuke started, "why do you think we should chose you to model? What makes you so special?"

"Well..." She started. "I've wanted to model since I was at least ten years old. And you hardly ever see models my height out there, so it would be wonderful inspiration for the shorter people who want to model." What else could she say? "And, um, I think I deserve it the most because...well, I actually don't. I'm sure there is some other girl who'll come in that will deserve it more. But modeling is something I've wanted to do for so long, it's something I desire, not deserve if that."

_Lovely Sakura. Ino's going to get in for sure now..._

Sasuke smiled.

"Thank you Miss, Haruno. Can you please show us a runway walk?" An older woman then said.

She nodded and headed back to the door.

_You've trained for this Sakura, you can do it!_

Placing her hands upon her hips, Sakura walked her way up to the judges table, keeping a fairly straight line and a strong fierce expression upon her face.

"Thank you Sakura, you may head back into the waiting room. We have just a few more girls to interview."

"Thank you." She gave a small bow and headed out of the room.

_They kept smiling, that's a good thing Sakura. You might have a chance now..._

"So Sakura, how do you think you did?" Ino called, shortly after she went back into the waiting room.

"Oh, not that good...I think I weigh to much for their liking and my walk and confidence seemed so weak."

They wandered around the building for the next three hours. Ino texted a few of her friends, letting them know that she was almost certain that she was going to be a model. A little after noon they went out for lunch at a near by restaurant with Ino's parents. When they came back the woman at the front desk informed them that they only had a few more girls left before they'd announce the new models.

"While we wait, could we have some information on Uchiha Sasuke?" Sakura asked, hoping to learn more about his modeling career before the family incident.

The woman pulled out a large portfolio full of pictures of Sasuke in the previous year. "Those are all of his photos shortly before the incident."

Sakura and Ino took the portfolio and were stunned.

"He's so handsome," was all they were able to say as they passed each photo.

"I wonder what happened that made him stop modeling. I mean, it had to be bad if he was gone for a whole year." Ino said, handing the portfolio back to the woman.

Sakura shrugged. "I suppose you could always ask him next time you see him."

Making their way back to the waiting room, they could hear that they began to announce the winners of the modeling competition. "Alright, we've narrowed it down to our final five future models. When I call your name please come up to the front where Miss, Ama is standing."

"This is it!" Ino said in a excited whisper. "I bet you _anything_ they'll call my name first."

In the first four names, neither Ino or Sakura were called. Though the Gothic looking girl who they saw when they first arrived was one of the first to be called.

"Oh, she got in. Isn't that nice!" Sakura exclaimed.

"I guess..." Ino replied with in a bitter voice.

"And our last model will be..." The announcer adjusted his glasses to read the last name.

_This is it Sakura..._ She told herself. _You'll finally know if you're meant to model or not._

"Yamanaka Ino..he's going to say Yamanaka Ino." Ino whispered under her breath.

"Miss, Haruno Sakura! Congratulations." He said proudly.

"What?!" Ino shrieked. "How did you get the contract? You can barely walk a straight line!"

Sakura's eyes were wide and her jaw dropped to its lowest. She was the final winner. She was going to fulfil her dream of being a model. Finally she could say that she had more talent then Ino in something other then school work.

"Miss, Haruno, please come up." He called again.

_Move your foot Sakura. That's it...take another step, and another, and another..._

"Congratulations to all of our future models, and thank you girls who traveled all the way to Kyoshi for this. Miss, Ama, if you would please escort the girls to the conference room we can tell them about their prize and other things."

Tenten smiled and called for the girls to follow her into the next room. "In the next room we'll actually take your first photo shoots. First some simple black and white 'beauty shots' and then, modeling out new clothes designed by the famous fashion designer and model - Tsunade!"

* * *

Author's notes - Bleh, I hate writing in third character. It's so hard and I always screw it up...(sighs) I really hate the ending but if I kept it going it would have moved into most of the third chapter. Anyway, I'm sorry that Sasuke wasn't in this chapter much either. In the next chapter he'll be in a lot more. There's way to much dailouge in this story...

Thank you for reading.


	3. Mikatochi Orochimaru

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Author's notes - Alright, here it is, chapter three. I'll be bringing in more characters and there will be a lot more Sasuke for you fangirls, lol. Not to mention I finally finished one of my other series so I'll be able to get this one written faster without worrying. (Then again I might be dumb and start another long series like this one...) Orochimaru might be a little OOC in this story, but then again this is a fanfiction and whatever I type - goes, lol. Oh, and obviously I am not a model so my information on this career will be a little off, but I'll try to do the best I can...

* * *

Tsunade was a curvy and busty woman with light brown eyes and long blonde hair which was tied into two low pigtails that hung over her like a regular ponytail. She was wearing an interesting piece of clothing that oddly looked like a pink schoolgirls uniform and a kimono crossed together. Next to her was a man with long white hair. He looked a little tipsy and slightly perverted. Sakura noticed this when she and the other winners walked into the room and the large pervert-looking grin crossed his face. 

"Alright ladies." Tenten clasped her hands together. "Welcome to your first photo-shoot. The behind me is of course wold famous fashion designer, Tsunade and next to her is her famous photographer/husband Jiraiya."

Sakura, along with the other girls, clapped after Tenten finished introducing Jiraiya and Tsunade.

"Each of you will also be assigned with a coach. They will help you throughout your career and promote your modeling in the near future." Tenten turned slightly and held out her arm where several men and women came walking deeper into the room. "Once I give you the name of your coach, you will then get dressed and have your hair and makeup done. Afterwards, Jiraiya will shoot your first photo!"

One by one each girl was given her coach until only one was left. Sakura didn't like the last remaining man. He was tall with long black hair and was slick and shiny, mostly due to over-use of hair-gel. His entire body was pale, his face was sunken and a small muscular build was upon him.

"And of course since he is the last coach, Miss Haruno your coach will be Mikatochi Orochimaru." Tenten smiled as she read off the last name on the list.

_Why do I get the creepy pedophile?_ Sakura thought as she walked over to Orochimaru. Up close he even scared her more.

"Stunning beauty." Orochimaru said, leaning over slightly to get a better look at Sakura's face. "You truly are a beauty, girl."

"Th-thank you." Sakura whimpered slightly.

"Come." He grabbed her hand and dragged her to the available seat. "We need to quickly apply your makeup and fix your hair. Jiraiya and Tsunade are a impatient couple." Orochimaru called over a few people to work on Sakura before continuing his talk. "After the photo shoot, why don't we sit down and talk?"

"A-alright." She said, trying to breathe and see through the makeup artist and hair stylist.

While Sakura was getting her hair and makeup done, Orochimaru brought over a gothic-style gown.

"One of Tsunade's recent pieces." He held it up so she'd be able to get a better look. "This is what you'll be wearing for your first shoot." His eyes then moved to Sakura's waist. "Hopefully it'll fit you."

Thankfully they were finished by the time Orochimaru had finished explaining what she'd be wearing.

"Quickly get into this." He handed her the gown. "You're photo shoot is next and I already told you that Jiraiya and Tsunade are an impatient pair."

"It's too small!" She gasped, as Orochimaru began to tie the strings in the back. "I can hardly breathe. Can't you get this dress in a larger size before my photo shoot?"

"No. It's the only size available, and besides Miss, Haruno this is all part of modeling, sometimes you will be forced to wear clothing that is a size too small or too big."

"But, I can't breathe." She gasped out again.

Orochimaru sighed and loosened the strings to the corset. "When you're finish your photo-shoot we'll discuss your waist size..."

_I've only been a model for a few minutes and I'm already being critiqued about my size..._ Sakura let out a deep breath now that the corset gown was loose. _I hope Orochimaru won't be too tough about it._

"Alright, you, Sakura, right?" Tsunade called. "We're ready for your photo-shoot."

Sakura rushed over to Tsunade, behind her a large and long blank roll-out background where she knew that once they found the perfect shot they would then add all the digital effects. Getting onto the background, Sakrua began to work with the clothing she was wearing, taking in all the directions that Jiraiya and Orochimaru gave her.

"Chin up."

"Close your mouth, it looks like a fly trap!"

"Move your hand back up and run it through your hair again, that looked wonderful."

Sakura tried to stay right on tact with the comments, moving and listening to every little thing they told her. _Perfect, move like Jiraiya told you...good, now turn your head the way Orochimaru wanted you to..._ As Jiraiya took the last photo, Sakura felt a rush of relief through her body.

"You've got talent, Miss Haruno." Tsunade said, looking at the computer screen where her photos were alined. "I'll enjoy having you as one of my models."

* * *

After her first photo-shoot and Sakura had finished removing the makeup and changed back into her regular clothing Orochimaru took her into a waiting room. She was nervous of course, her hands were in fists that shook in fear of what he would say. It was only her first photo-shoot and he wouldn't be upset over a little fitting problem, would he? 

"What are your waist measurements, Sakura?"

"Um...twenty-nine inches I believe." She said nervously.

Orochimaru's eyes twitched slightly. "Twenty-nine? Miss Haruno, don't you think that for a model that's a little large? You're not trying to be a plus-size model are you?"

"N-no, of course not. I'll cut back on the snacks and desserts if that will help." She quickly raced through her mind trying to think of more things she could cut back on. Soda would be a good one for sure, as well as the desserts that her mother always made each weekend. Snack food was a large one for sure, sugar and salt seemed to be all that they where. She knew a little exercise wouldn't hurt as well.

"Sakura, there is a simple way that I can start you out to slim down a bit." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a white bottle of what looked like prescription medicine. "Green Tea pills, take them before every meal you eat. When I weigh you in one week, hopefully there will be some improvements."

"Diet pills? O-orochimaru I don't know—

"You want to model don't you?" He snapped, slamming the bottle down on the table in front of him.

"Yes..."

"Then you'll take the pills. If they don't work we'll try something better. You can go now...I'm sure your friend is getting impatient."

Sakura stared at the bottle in her hands. _Diet pills? Do I weigh that much that I need to take pills for me to slim down? I could be safe and just work-out...these things are terrible for your heart...yes, a simple work-out will be better. _She hated the thought of Orochimaru being displeased with her body. Twenty-nine inches for a waist wasn't a lot was it? She clenched the bottle in her hand. "No." She said, picking up her pace in a rush to find Ino before she became more impatient.

As she turned down the hall, Sakura became blinded from a large dark figure and opened her eyes to see the cream colored ceiling above her.

"Ow..." She sat up, holding her head where she encountered the dark figure. "S-sorry about that. I didn't see you."

"It's alright." Sasuke's voice replied, sounding irritated.

Sakura's eyes flashed open. _S-sasuke?! He was the one I ran into? Oh what a great way to get some better alone time with him..._

Sasuke stood up and offered a hand out to her. "You should watch where you're going though."

Shyly she took his hand and blushed as he pulled her up. "Of course. I'll do that..."

"You have Mikatochi Orochimaru?" He eyed the bottle of Green Tea beside her heels. "I'm amazed you're aren't crying...he's a harsh person."

"I noticed..." Sakura bent down and picked up the bottle. "Is he your coach as well?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Then you can give me some pointers to be on his good side then, right?" She smiled.

"Not really. Orochimaru see's each client differently."

Sakura frowned. "Oh...um..Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"Do you know if Ino's still waiting for me? We drove up here together and well...she's my only ride home."

"No. I don't know. I haven't been in the waiting room since Tenten introduced my comeback."

"Oh...well thank you anyway." She smiled once more and headed towards the main waiting room, hoping that Ino would still be there.

"If she's not. Tenten or I could always drop you off..."

Sakura felt her heart skip a beat. "That would be nice, thank you."

Ino was in the waiting room when Sakura returned. Arms crossed, foot-tapping, and an evil death-glare upon her face when she realized who opened the door.

"Hey Ino..." She made her way over to her friend. "I'm sorry that you didn't get in..."

"I don't care." Ino snapped, turning her head and showing off her blonde hair as she did so. "I'm to good for this agency anyway."

Sakura sighed. "I know...so are you ready to go home now?"

Ino uncrossed her arms. "Yeah. Did you talk to Sasuke at all?"

"Um..." _What do I say? Of course I talked to Sasuke but what'll she say if I tell her that he offered to drive me home if she wasn't here? _"I talked to him, yes..."

"And? What did you two say to each other?"

"Oh, nothing really...he just...told me...to be careful around my coach, Orochimaru, he's a tough one apparently. That's all."

Ino raised an eyebrow. "Whatever..."

"You're not jealous are you?" Sakura tucked the bottle into her purse and followed quickly behind Ino as she headed out the door.

"No. Why would_ I_ be jealous?"

"Because it's something you wanted, but I got it instead..."

"I already told you - I'm to good for this agency." She snorted.

"But..." Sakura sighed. "Of course you are..."

* * *

"You're a model, Sakura? That's amazing." Hinata exclaimed. 

"I heard models where all dumb though, maybe Sakura can tell us if it's true!" Naruto laughed, slapping his hand onto the desk.

"Not _all_ models are dumb, Naruto." Ino hit the back of Naruto's head.

"What's it like?" Hinata asked, obviously interested on the topic.

"Um..." was all Sakura could say. When she first arrived to school the following Monday, she had been swarmed by her classmates who somehow discovered that she had recently become a model.

"I bet it's hard, huh Sakura?" Another classmate commented.

"Well I've only done one photo-shoot..."

"How can you survive being a model?" Chouji started, "You can't eat _anything_!"

"But..."

"Did you meet Tenten?! The add said she would be there, was she? Did you see her? Talk to her?" One more commented.

"Tenten was there, and yes I met her. She was really nice."

"Wow! That's so cool!" They all said together.

"Class, please take your seats. You can bother Miss Haruno when school is done." Iruka-Sensei called, walking into the room and flapping the papers in his hand up in the air. "Good. Now, we'll be starting a group project for Health class..." As Iruka-Sensei continued with the lesson, Sakura continued to be tormented by her classmates.

"Psst, Sakura...now that you're a model, can you sign this piece of paper for me?" One of her classmates named Zaku asked, pushing a small piece of paper towards her.

"But I'm not even famous."

"Who cares, you're a model. That's all what counts."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "And here I thought you didn't even want to talk to me."

"You're a model now, things change."

She rolled her eyes and pushed the paper off her desk. "I'm not signing anything..."

_I didn't think one simple photo-shoot could make someone so popular..._ She ignored Zaku's threat and continued to write down the notes she was supposed to know for health class. _How does Sasuke deal with it? All those raging fans of his, there must be someway he ignores them or at least handles them._ Sakura sighed. _I'm also getting weird comments of fandom from people I don't even know...this isn't why I wanted to model._ She glanced over at Ino who was pushing her desk closer to Shikamaru's and Chouji's for their group project. _Though I'm sure that's why she wanted to do it._

"Hey, Sakura, looks like we get to be partners!" Naruto called out, noisily pushing is desk over to hers.

_Great_. She thought. "Well then who's our other partner?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed and shot his head to the left. "Sasuke."

Sasuke was already pushing his desk towards Sakura's. "Let's just get this over with..."

The assignment (list different types of drugs and how they effect your body) was simple and Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto had finished in no time. As Naruto headed up to Iruka-Sensei's desk to hand in their papers, Sakura took advantage of that brief time to talk to Sasuke.

"Um, Sasuke?" She scooted her chair closer to his. "How do you deal with all the fandom? I mean, you're such a famous model...I'm curious to know how you deal with all the people who bother you?"

"I just ignore them."

"But, what if they keep bothering you and you can no longer handle it?"

"I walk away."

Sakura frowned. "Oh..." It wasn't the exact answer she had wanted to hear, but something was better then nothing. "Sasuke...did any of your friends become jealous when you started modeling"

"No."

"No? Why not?"

Sasuke ignored her and began pushing his desk back where it belonged.

Sakura sighed and bit her lip. _Why does he always do that?_

As lunch came, she could tell Ino was still a little bitter about Sakura becoming a model.  
"...sorry but you have such a _large_ and _wide_ forehead. How could they even think about wanting you to model?" She would say, listing one negative thing about Sakura and then a positive about herself. "See, my forehead is normal, it's just _perfect_." She held her four fingers upon her forehead to show off.

Sakura rolled her eyes and continued to listen to Ino's comments.

"And truly no offense Sakura, but, pink hair is highly unattractive." She flipped her own hair. "But blonde, everybody loves them."

Sakura rubbed her eyes. "I know Ino...you tell me everyday."

Ino frowned. "I'm just making a point."

"I know you are." Sakura sighed, taking a bite of the salad on her fork.

"Good. So as I was saying - green eyes..."

_It's like this everyday._ Sakura continued to eat her salad and try her best to block Ino out. _I've never met such a prideful person in my life...

* * *

_

"Remove your clothing." Orochimaru said. Sakura was at her third photo-shoot for the week and he had insisted to weigh her before every shoot.

"Excuse me?" She said, backing up towards the door.

"Your clothing adds a little bit of weight during your weigh in. Remove it."

She blinked a few times. "Do you have to watch? I'd be more comfortable if you didn't look when I removed my clothing."

Thankfully going to her request, Orochimaru turned around, obviously frustrated of what she asked. As Sakura slipped her jeans down her thighs, she felt a chill run up her spin. Weighing herself in her underwear wasn't she wanted to do every time she had a photo-shoot.

As her feet stepped onto the cold scale, Orochimaru turned around and got behind her, looking over her shoulder to see her weight.

"121lbs...Miss Haruno I am highly disappointed with you." He picked up her clothes and tossed them back to her. "You haven't been taking the Green Tea like I told you to and because of that you've _gained_ a pound."

"I'm only 5"7' how much do you think I should weigh at my height?" Sakura quickly slipped into her clothes.

"You're a model Miss Haruno. Things are different in weight now." He glared at her. "You obviously want to do plus-size modeling."

"No, I don't. I just don't feel comfortable taking diet pills...that's all."

"It's a part of your career as a model."

Sakura pursed her lips together in embarrassment. "How much would you like me to weigh?"

Orochimaru smiled. "First let's get you down to 110lbs, we'll work it down from there on."

"Alright...should I go get ready for my photo-shoot then? I'll be late if we talk any longer."

"Yes, go...I'll follow shortly afterwards."

Sakura made her way to the fitting rooms. She had been told that she would be modeling with Tenten and the other winners in a group photo introducing more clothing made by Tsunade.

_110? How does her expect me to lose that much weight in such a short time? And he wants to make me lose more after that...how's that going to happen? I've never been good with diets, they always fail...what am I going to do?_

"Oh, Sakura! You're just in time, they're setting everyone up for make-up!" Tenten called, waving her arms to the entrance.

_Tenten! Of course! They said that she weighed 125lbs when she started, she must be the master at weight-loss. I'm sure she'll be glad to give me some tips on how to get down to Orochimaru's asking weight._

"Right." Sakura ran over to Tenten. "Thanks for calling me...looks like you already have your hair and make-up done." She eyed Tenten's freshly braided hair and lightly applied make-up which made her have a school-girl appeal. "Um, and what kind of outfits are we modeling out for Tsunade this time?"

Tenten smiled and flipped one of her braids in admire. "We're modeling out school-girl looking clothing. She took the design of everyday clothing and clashed it school uniforms. It actually looks really cool, you should hurry and get your hair and make-up done so you can see."

She grabbed Sakura's hand and dragged her into the room. Setting her down in a chair, Tenten snapped her fingers and called for assistants. In no time people began to play with Sakura's hair and apply light make-up to her face.

When they finished a few minutes later, Sakura's hair was pulled up into a high pony-tail, just like how Ino would wear her hair everyday. Hot pink eyeshadow covered her eyelid and light blush was dabbed onto her cheeks. They then gave her the new outfit she would be wearing. Exactly the way Tenten described the clothing. Sakura was given a pair of regular 'skinny jeans' with a pink plaid school-girl skirt sewn onto the waistline. The top was just like a regular tank, minus the bow that wrapped around your neck and fell down just below her breast just like an average school-girl ribbon would.

"Cool outfit, huh?" Tenten said, wearing a blue set similar to Sakura's only with long sleeves.

"It's different, I can say that much..."

Props were given to the girls. Assorted books, purses, bags, and backpacks where given to each girl who was then told to pose almost as if she was heading out the door for school.

_This_, though Sakura, _couldn't be an easier shot! I'm always walking with Ino to school while trying to keep a model touch. _

Orochimaru arrived to her shoot just in time, Sasuke following up closely behind him with sleepy look upon his face.

"Sakura, bring your chin up. That's something you need to work on." Orochimaru hissed. "And focus your eyes, stop staring at Sasuke. Just ignore him."

Jiraiya pulled away from his camera. "You need to lighten up Orochimaru, you've been in this business for how long and you still can't give out _one_ positive comment to a client."

"Because, Jiraiya, unlike you I keep this business in tact and don't tell every girl she has an attractive body. Focus Sakura!" He snapped. "Get back to posing."

"No need." Jiraiya said, setting his camera down. "She's done one-hundred frames already, she's good to go."

Sakura quickly ran away from Orochimaru before he made another comment about her weight of lack of focus.

Sitting in the corner was Sasuke, he still had the sleepy/dazed look upon his face but looks awake enough to act like his normal self.

"Hey Sasuke." She said, not bothering to change into her regular clothes. "Are you having a photo-shoot soon, or did you just get off of one?"

"Hm?" He turned his head towards her, his face was pale and large black bags were under his eyes.

"S-sasuke, are you alright? You look ill?"

"I'm fine...I just need to talk to Orochimaru. I caught him as soon as he walked into to guide you." He stood up a little shaky and made his way to Orochimaru.

"Um...alright...I'll see you at school tomorrow then." She waved good-bye and headed to the back of the room to grab her clothing.

After she finished changing, and she knew Tenten was done with her shoot she pulled her aside.

"Um...Tenten?" She knew she was going to mess it up somehow.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Um...well...I need your help with something."

Tenten turned her head to the side and leaned her ear in closer a bit to hear Sakura's voice better. "What do you need help with?"

"Well...Orochimaru told me to lose a bit of weight...currently I'm 121lbs and he wants me to get to 110lbs for now and then he said something about working from there down..."

"And?"

"And...I was wondering if you could tell me how to lose weight in a fast way?"

Tenten blinked. "Didn't he give you diet pills? I could have sworn he did to every single one of his models."

"Yes...but I don't feel comfortable taking them."

"You have nothing to worry about. The pills will help in a big way." Tenten said positively.

"But...what if I don't want to take them?"

"Oh...well..." Tenten looked down to her shoes and bit her lip. "That's all I can help you with then."

"How did you get so thin then? Just by taking diet pills?"

"Diet pills were a part of it..."

"And what was the other part?" Sakura leaned in eagerly.

"Um..." Tenten smiled nervously. "You know, never mind...I um...need to go to my room..."

"Oh...alright...well I see you later then."

"Right, by Sakura." Tenten quickly skidded off to her room.

"That's odd..." Sakura said. "I've never seen her so eager to head back to her room..."

"Do you always talk to yourself?" Sasuke said, creeping up behind her.

"N-no! Just...er..oh! You look like you're feeling better now." She pointed to his face, noticing the color that now filled his face and the faded bags. "What was wrong with you?"

"Nothing." He snapped.

"But you looked like the walking dead, something must've been wrong."

"It was nothing. I got my...medication...so I'm better now."

Sakura frowned."Right...sorry...as long as you're feeling better now."

* * *

Author's notes - I think this chapter turned out a little short which drove me nuts...there's less dialogue though which I was happy about. Obviously my story is off on a lot of things...lol...and for those who are confused about Sasuke and Tenten, don't worry - all answers will be explained in the next couple of chapters. (Most likely the end or middle of chapter four, so get ready just in case!) 

Thank you for reading.


	4. White Powder

Disclaimer - I do not own...(sighs) like many fangirls, I wish I did.

Author's notes - I'm amazed. I thought for sure that this fic was going to sink for sure because the plot it really dumb and all. Amazingly though with only three chapters I've reached 77 reviews. Maybe by the time you all finish reading this chapter I'll have 100. (Laughs at my own joke because it won't happen, lol.) Anyway now for the important note - There will be some drug usage and some body hate in this chapter. So you've been warned.

* * *

It had been a week since Sakura asked Tenten and Sasuke what was wrong with them. She was probably better off not knowing. It wasn't a part of her business anyway. Yet deep down, Sakura secretly wanted to know why Tenten was so embarrassed about how she lost weight so fast, and why Sasuke had such a dazed look upon his face when he walked into the room. She had only to come to one conclusion; drugs. It seemed to be the only obvious answer. Dazed look, embarrassment, running off to rooms. It didn't quite make sense, but it was all she seemed to think of as an answer. 

Since that day, Tenten seemed to be a lot well, _thinner _then usual. Her eyes and nose were red, puffy, and watery at times when she'd emerge from her dressing room. When Sakura asked if everything was alright, Tenten said that she was simply crying because she missed her boyfriend. For some reason, Sakura had doubts. Sasuke also was looking strange. There was days when she'd seem him at school, where he'd be healthy looking and his skin a light pink color. But then there were days where he'd look so sickly and pale, with large bags under his eyes. Just like Tenten. It worried Sakura, but she knew it was best to leave him alone. She didn't want to get snapped at again anyways.

In the week not only had Sakura tried to avoid Tenten and Sasuke, but Orochimaru. He was starting to bother her about the way she looked and was critiquing her often. After he found out the density of her hair, he insisted that she chopped it off down to a short length that made her 'weigh-less' and 'show off more of her facial features.' It bothered Sakura at first when she saw her pink locks fall to Orochimarus feet, but through time she began to enjoy it. Her hairstyles always turned out different from the models with longer hair and she was able to have certain styles that Tenten and the others couldn't.

After the hair-cut, Sakura began to talk to the Gothic-girl who also won. Temari was a nice girl, with an interesting attitude. At first, she scared Sakura with the chains and heavy black makeup. But through time she adapted to it and painted her nails black a few times with Temari. Despite Tenten, Sasuke, and Orochimaru's wild behavior, things seemed to be perfect for Sakura in the agency.

* * *

"Remove your clothes and step onto the scale, Sakura." Orochimaru pointed to her scale. This was her third photo-shoot this week, and at least her tenth weigh-in. 

Doing as she was told, Sakura removed her clothing and stepped onto the scale.

"What does it say?"

"118lbs." Sakura read from the scale.

"Better. You've been taking the diet pills I assume?" Orochimaru studied Sakura's hair.

"Yes, with every single thing I eat."

His eyes trailed down to her stomach. Never had she worn any clothing that showed off her stomach, but it was nearing winter and swimsuits shots had to be done in the next week or so.

"It's not good enough. You're still too fat." He said simply.

"T-too fat? Orochimaru, I have taken _diet pills_ to make my weight go down. What more could I possibly do?"

A smile formed from his lips. "Oh, innocent Sakura..." One of his hands ran through her hair, sending chills down her spin. "Don't you ever read the papers? You know so much about modeling, yet know so little on how some of them get thin."

"What do they do?" She was scared of an answer he'd give her. Sakura knew several reasons, but didn't want to believe them all. Models were good people, men and women who modeled out clothing and other products. She didn't want to hear the stereo-type that everyone thought models were.

"Starve yourself, Sakura..." He whispered. "You're fat and need to lose the weight. If you skip a few meals you'll be beautiful and everyone will want you to model."

"Or-orochimaru, I don't know..." She started to protest, but Orochimaru moved on.

"Don't eat a few meals, you'll be thin...and Sasuke likes thin girls." He continued to speak in her ear.

"Sasuke?"

"Yes...Sasuke just adores thin girls...don't you want to be beautiful for him?"

"Yes...but..."

"Then starve yourself...you need to lose weight for your job. Sasuke is a good motivation...and Miss, Ama can help you. She knows all about it..."

Sakura felt uncomfortable as she stood on the scale in her underwear with Orochimaru over her shoulder, whispering words to her. She missed having her long hair at times like these. She felt so naked without it. "I don't know..."

"You want to model, don't you?"

"Yes..."

"Then do it...go into Miss, Ama's room and talk to her about it."

"A...alright."

Carefully, she bent down and picked up her clothing beside the scale. Chills still ran through her body after Orochimaru left the room. He was supposed to be her coach, just guide her through the modeling life and help promote her to other people.

With her clothing back on, Sakura rushed to closest mirror. She wasn't that bad looking, right?

_You're bottom is a little big Sakura..._ She placed her hands on each side of her bottom then glided them over to her hips. _Orochimaru is being silly. I'm not fat. For my height I'm at the perfect weight. 118lbs isn't a lot anyway. I'm sure there are plenty of models that are famous that weigh that much._ _But still..._ Her hips did seem a lot wider then Tentens and her arms seemed to have a bit more on them then Temari's skinny ones. She wasn't really fat, was she?

A knock came to the door. "Sakura?"

_Sasuke?!_ She violently turned her head towards the door. "Y-yes?"

"You have a photo shoot in half an hour..." Sasuke said in his usual bored voice. "We need to be at the Botanical Gardens."

"We?" Sakura asked, wondering if she heard correctly.

"Yes. And you better hurry, Orochimaru is taking us and you know how impatient he is."

Sakura blushed and quickly rushed out of the door. She had a photo shoot with Sasuke and didn't even know it. Not only that, but she'd be able to spend a lot of time with him, it was to good to be true, something was bound to go wrong.

* * *

"'Teenage Romance'?" Sakura said in disbelief. This _was_ to good to be true. 

"Well...you're actually modeling out a jean brand, but this is the theme they wanted?" Said Jiraiya as he began to set his camera up. "Why? Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No..."

Jiraiya smiled. "Then this shouldn't be a problem."

_This isn't happening._ Sakura thought as the artists began to do her makeup and hair. _This isn't happening. I'm going to be in a photo shoot with Sasuke!_ _Not only that, but we're going to be lovers in this shoot._ Her eyes glanced over to Sasuke. At this moment, she'd kill to see what was crossing his mind as they prepared him for the shoot. Was he excited about it as well? Hating the thought of being next to her? Or did he not care at all and had no emotion of this?

"Remember, you're modeling out the jeans." Orochimaru said, standing behind the computer where the images would show up. "Try not to make it sexual."

Nervously, Sakura began to model out with Sasuke. At times, wrapping her arms around his neck and doing other romantic movements she had seen in couple photos on the internet. Moments came where she'd move her face close to his, as if leaning in for a kiss, but wouldn't make any facial expression to show that she was in love with him. Sasuke seemed to be more aware of his surroundings and gave off a much stronger appearance then Sakura. It was obviously driving everyone crazy.

"Dammit, Sakura!" Orochimaru yelled. "This isn't a hard shoot. You're doing commercial modeling and things should be simple since you're only doing romantic poses!"

Sakura jumped in fright. "It's not that simple for me..."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I just can't do it."

Orochimaru frowned. "Take a five minute break..."

"Thank you." She mumbled, rushing away from the set to a near park bench.

_Stupid Sakura! This isn't hard. What's your problem today? This is supposed to be easy. You're just modeling with Sasuke..._She sighed. _That's why you're freaking out...because it's Sasuke._

"Do you always mess up this much?" Asked Sasuke, as he stood in front of her.

"No. I guess I'm just nervous."

"About what? These are simple."

Sakura frowned. "Easy for you to say. You've been modeling for so long, I've only been doing it for a couple weeks." Her cheeks were red from embarrassment and her lip quivered to show that she was ready to burst into tears.

"You know, if you just pretend I'm someone else, it'd be easier." He sighed, growing frustrated with Sakura's problem.

"Pretend?"

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah...I'm sure _you_ can do that."

A smile formed in Sakura's lips. "I can."

When they got back to the set, Sakura was feeling slightly more confident about modeling with Sasuke. The shots were coming out better and didn't look fake. Once or twice, Sakura had an urge to kiss Sasuke to make the photo look better, but was to nervous to get an inch away from his face. At one point, Sasuke had placed his hands around her hips and leaned in to make it look like they were about to kiss. At first she was nervous, but quickly placed her hands upon his chest and leaned her own body it. It was 'the mater shot' as Jiraiya called it.

Orochimaru was slightly more pleased with her progression, but insisted she stayed late again at the agency so they'd be able over more poses.

"Do you do couple shots often, Sasuke?" Sakura asked on the way back to the agency.

"No. One or two every couple of months." He replied dully.

"Oh...with who?"

"Other random models..." He said dully.

* * *

"Mom and dad took _me_ to 'Suna Models' yesterday." Ino said proudly before class started. "They said they loved my look and wanted me to model for them. Isn't that great?" 

Sakura rolled her eyes. Sunday night she was given the same phone call about the same topic. "It's great, Ino."

"I know! When I walked in several women there were saying that I had beautiful hair, eyes, and a great all around body!" Her gloating continued. "I'm going to be better then Tenten. You'll see. Maybe even better then _you_, Sakura."

"Wh-what?"

"Yeah, I'm that good." She smirked and continued on with her pride. "I've only done beauty shots but they said I was stunning."

"Tenten and I get the same comments." Sakura muttered under her breath.

"Do you get comments on how beautiful your hair is? How stunning your eyes? How about your body? Do they ever tell you that your body is gorgeous and the eye of perfection?" Ino snapped.

"No, but—"

"See, I'm _perfect_."

Without hesitation Sakura jumped out of her desk and ran out of the classroom. Her face was hot with anger, hatred, and depression. _Ino can't be better..._ Her mind raced as she continued to run to the nearest girls restroom. _I won the contract, I was chosen. Not Ino...Ino can't be better. She's better at everything else. This is my area. This is mine...not Ino's...she's only wanted this for a short period of time, I've wanted this since I was ten. I'm not going to lose to her..._

Once in the restroom, Sakura sat in one of the stalls, crying her eyes out for the next several minutes. No one at the agency told her that her hair was beautiful. Nor did they say how stunning her eyes were, and not once did she receive a comment about how her body was 'perfect.'

_Ino's not perfect..._ Sakura looked at her wrists. The bones weren't visible when she looked at them unlike Ino, Temari, and Tenten. _Ino's not perfect...Ino's not perfect...Ino's not perfect..._ She thought over and over again. When she finally came out of the stall she walked to the mirror. Classes had been going for a couple minutes and it was most likely that no one was going to bother her. _Ino's not perfect..._ She thought once more as she lifted up her shirt and set it on the sink beside her. Examining her stomach she began to cry some more. _Ino's not perfect..._ Sakura's fingers ran flatly up and down her torso. _Ino's perfect... _She turned her body around so she could look at her back. _I'm not perfect..._ Her shoulder blades weren't visible like Temari's perfectly formed ones. _I'm not perfect..._ She pulled her pants down a bit to show off her hip bones. They weren't visible like Tenten's perfectly shaped ones. _I'm not perfect... _She faced the from again and looked at her collar bone. It didn't stick out like Ino's thin and straight one.

"I'm not perfect..." She told her reflection.

"Sakura?" Ino's voice echoed through the entrance of the bathroom. "Are you in here?"

Quickly, Sakura pulled her pants above her hips and quickly slipped into her shirt. "Yes, Ino."

"Good. Iruka-Sensei sent me off to get you after you ran out. I've never seen him so mad before."

Sakura frowned. So Ino didn't come after her in concern? " It was an emergency that's all."

Ino's face formed a disgusted look. "Ew...well can we hurry? Iruka-Sensei is already made enough."

As the class went on, Sakura grew more depressed. The concern and thoughts about her appearance and Ino's so-called 'perfection' seemed to be the weight of the world. She hardly made eye contact with anyone and was slow moving as they did assignments through-out. At times she felt like Sasuke, sitting alone with no contact to the others. During lunch she sat next to Ino eating a small salad as Ino continued to talk about her new modeling job.

"S-sakura?"

Sakura lifted her head and saw Hinata in front of her. A scared look on her face as always and the latest issue of a popular teen magazine. "Yeah? What is it Hinata?"

Hinata walked closer to the table and set down on the magazine, opened on an article about the dangers of _Myspace_. Next to the article was Sasuke and Sakura's jean add. Sakura blushed as she saw what photo it was. Sasuke's hands where wrapped gently around her waist and her hands up against his chest. Heads tilted slight as if moving into a kiss and legs spread partly to get a look at how the jeans fitted.

"I-I was wondering...if m-maybe you could s-sign it?" Hinata asked, stuttering as usual. "I-I'm so sorry if I'm b-bothering you..."

Sakura blinked her eyes in disbelief. "No not at all, Hinata." She quickly pulled out a pen from her purse and scribbled her name at the bottom of the page.

"Th-thank you." Hinata picked up the article and rushed back to her lunch table.

"Hm?" Ino turned her body back to Sakura's, who had started working on her salad again. "What was that about?"

"Nothing, nothing." Sakura said embarrassedly. The last thing she needed was for Ino to see the add of her and Sasuke together.

Ino raised an eyebrow. "You can tell me, Sakura, you know that."

Sakura bit her lip. '_Oh Hinata wanted me to sign the ad I did with Sasuke where we look like a couple._' It just didn't sound right.

"Well?"

"It's nothing. I swear." Sakura turned a light pink and went back to eating her salad.

"Sakura!" Naruto's loud voice filled the cafeteria as he rushed over to her table, screaming her name out and waving the same magazine Hinata brought over in his hands.

_Please no..._

Naruto slammed down the magazine in front of Sakura and Ino, his eyes narrowed deeper then they already were. "Hinata came back to the table and was showing Kiba an article about Myspace..."

Ino's attention was full-on now.

"But see, it wasn't the article she was showing him!" Naruto quickly opened the magazine and turned to the article and her photo. "_This_ is what she was showing Kiba! What are you doing with Sasuke anyway?"

Ino's eyes twitched slightly as she saw Sakura and Sasuke together, up close and near a kiss. "This is 'nothing'?"

"It's j-just a photo shoot." Sakura stuttered along. "W-we had to pose as a c-couple while modeling out the jeans..."

"That doesn't look like what you're doing." Ino snapped. "Looks more like you're about to _kiss_ him."

"But Ino, you know that sometimes in modeling you have to act like you're doing something."

Ino and Naruto continued to glare at the photo, ignoring Sakura's defense.

* * *

"You haven't been to Tenten's room?" Orochimaru said crossly. 

"No. You see, last time I was here I didn't have any time. Sasuke came to my room telling me..." She stopped after catching the look in Orochimaru's eyes. "Sorry...I'll do it before I leave for sure."

"Good." Orochimaru took a drink from the alcohol bottle that he just opened and sighed in annoyance. "Get on the scale."

'Get on the scale' had been four words Sakura dreaded. She knew what her fate was when she would read off the numbers. A bone-chilling whisper of names and hate. It scared her to death to have him whisper in her ear, and made her feel humiliated with the addition that she wore nothing but underwear as he did so.

"Read it." He took another drink from behind her.

"115lbs." She mumbled under her breath, scared to see what he'd say next.

"What is it?"

"115lbs..." She said louder.

"Better, Sakura..." He leant down to her ear. "But you can be better..." The sent of alcohol drifted from his mouth to her nose, causing her to feel sick and disgusted with it. "_Much_ better...you'll make Miss, Ama look ugly...more people will want to hire you...and you'll be the idol of millions..." His hand softly played with her hair and moved down to her shoulder. "You'll be perfect."

She let out a small noise of fear, indicating that she knew what she had to do.

"I've scheduled runway lessons for you this weekend as well." Orochimaru smiled as he took yet another drink. "You'll be with Tenten and Sasuke, training for Tsunade's Fashion Show next month."

"Runway? Are you sure I'm not too-short for that?" Sakura said, quickly putting her clothing on.

"There have been plenty of models your height that have done Runway." He took a seat in the empty chair next to her dresser and took a long drink of beer. "You have beauty shots in five minutes, I suggest you go now," he added as he finished up the bottle.

_Runway? He wants me to do Runway?!_ _But that will mean that..._ She bit her lip as she walked out of the room. _...he'll want me to lose more. Who knows what clothing I'll be forced to wear on the Runway and Orochimaru will only want me to appear slimmer on it. I only have a month to do that, but how?_ As she turned the corner, Tenten's door was slightly open and an idea hit her. _Why do I never lean on Tenten for help until the last minute? I know she'll be willing to help...and Orochimaru will be upset if I don't go today anyway._

"Tenten?" Sakura knocked on Tenten's dressing room door. "I need to ask you something about— oh my god..." As she pushed open the door a bit more to Tenten's room she saw a horrifying site.

The room was a littered with dirty laundry and magazines that Tenten had been in. Almost as though she had been attacked. Thankfully she sat on the small couch in her room. And was leaning over the coffee table in front of it. Her hair was a mess and looked as though it hadn't been brushed in days, her body looked pale and sickly. Several white lines of what looked like power were upon a small mirror that laid on the table, and her index finger was pushed on one side of her nose and she breathed deeply as the straw stuck up her other nostril started inhaling the white powder.

When Tenten finished one of the rows of white powder, she brought her head up and coughed a few times. She turned her head to the side and stared at Sakura with confused eyes.

"I...I have to go!" She quickly stuttered. Without thinking, she turned her heal and headed out of the agency in shock and fear.

* * *

Author's notes - Ugh, it's a little short and I'm really pissed about that...anyway, I _did _warn you about the stuff ahead. (Obviously my drug scenes will be off since I've never done them and I don't really know how they work and crap like that...) Now some may ask - "Why is Ino a model now?" Why? Because my friend wanted Ino to be one...though I hate Ino with a passion, I decided to do it for her. Anyway I'm pretty much dead for ideas on the next chapter, so if you have somethings you'd like to see let me know in a review or PM...I really have no clue what I'm gonna do next. (Nervous laugh.) 

Thank you for reading. Happy Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa to all my readers and I hope you enjoy the holidays! (Even if I am early...)


	5. Seventeen Hours

Author's notes - I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays. And thank you for helping this story hit 100 reviews. It's nice to know what you people think of it. And...(laughs nervously) since this is an AU story, there will be some things in here, that even though isn't in Naruto at all, will be in my story.

Disclaimer - I do not own one single thing in this story other then the plot.

* * *

Sakura's heart raced with her body and mind as she dashed out of the Agency. Her mind going through what she had just seen, hoping it was all just a dream. Tenten...she can't...drugs...why...how...? Was this the help from Tenten that Orochimaru told me to get?...I-I can't do drugs, I won't! I need to tell someone what's going on! Sakura turned her heal and made a sharp turn on the corner of the street, spotting Sasuke several feet in front of her. Sasuke! She screamed in her mind. He'll probably be able to help me.

She planted her feet firmly on the ground and grabbed onto Sasuke's hands, crying, screaming, and speaking as fast as she could about the horror she had just seen in Tenten's room. When she finished, Sasuke's expression didn't change a bit and showed no sign of concern or shock to the drugs.

"What are we going to do?" She cried.

"What do you mean? There's nothing we can do." He said simply.

"There's nothing we can do? Sasuke, we can tell some of the coaches about her, we can make sure that non of the models are doing drugs!" She screamed aloud, causing people who were walking by to stop and stare at them.

"Quiet!" Sasuke snapped, pulling Sakura's body close to the nearby building beside them and leaned his face close to hers. "It's probably just nasal medication." He said without a doubt. "Sometimes Tenten cuts up her allergy medication and snorts it up her nose. She says it's the way it works best for her."

"But Sasuke, her room was a mess and she had such a dazed look upon her face." She protested and noticed the people who stopped and stared at them and had continued with their daily lives.  
"Tenten's not really a neat freak, and snorting medication like she does will probably give her head a spin."

"She was a mess, and looked so sickly."

"If I take you back to the agency, I'll be able to prove to you that nothings's wrong."

As they walked into the agency, Sakura felt embarrassed for running out the way she did. She clung to the back of Sasuke's shirt, afraid that she would find Tenten either passed out or continuing with the drugs, or medication, as Sasuke called it. When Sasuke opened the door, Sakura held her breath waiting to see if the horror in Tenten's room was still there. The room was neat though. All the papers and magazines had been picked up and placed into small, yet messy, piles on the floor. The mirror where the medication rested was no longer there and Tenten was seen on the phone, laughing with her boyfriend through the line.

"Oh..." Sakura mumbled, letting go of Sasuke's shirt, "it was just medication...sorry."

"At least you'll know next time." He said with annoyance as he closed the door.

* * *

"My coach says that I'm the most beautiful young woman he's ever seen!" Ino said proudly as she grabbed her lunch tray. "He thinks that with the way I'm going I'll be doing high fashion in no time, and he wants to start me out on runway this weekend for the fashion show next month." Sakura rolled her eyes as she followed Ino to their table. 

Ino flipped her blonde hair and sat down. "I've already done photoshoots with so many famous male models. Sasuke even comes to my agency at times and watches me do photoshoots." She added.

Sakura choked on her salad. "Wh-what?"

"Yeah, Sasuke watches me. I think he really like me, I mean why else would he leave his own agency to come visit mine unless he likes me. See, I told you I was his type."

"Has he even spoken to you though?"

One of Ino's eyes twitched. "Well no...I think he's just shy! That's why he hasn't come up to me, but really Sakura, does he ever watch your photoshoots?"

She nodded. "A few of them, yes."

Ino bit her lip and began to eat some of the food on her tray, ignoring what Sakura had said about Sasuke. When she finished, she started talking about how good she was again, and once more, Sakura rolled her eyes.

"...they say that Tsunade will be at the fashion show. Exciting, isn't it? My coach says that he'll ask Tsunade what she thinks of me after the show, and then...oh, hello Sasuke." Her voice went into a cheesy flirt tone as Sasuke walked up to their table. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Sasuke's eye shifted to Ino with a slight hint of annoyance. "Sakura,...Orochimaru told me that we'll be doing a photoshoot and some runway training after school." He ignored Ino's jaw drop. "Meet met at the front doors and we'll go together."

"Oh, alright. Bye Sasuke."

Ino's jaw was still open as Sasuke left the table without any words. "H-he wants to go with you? Why would he want to do that?!"

"Because...we're going to the same photoshoot together." She said simply, slightly happier that Ino was now jealous for a change.

"You know, he still likes me better. I mean, you know he just loves my silky blonde hair and ---"  
"Would you give it a rest?!" Sakura stood up and slammed her palm onto the table. "It's always the same thing day in and day out! I'm so tired of hearing you go on and on about how beautiful and perfect you are!" She breathed heavily, completely unaware that it was no longer her inner thoughts screaming. "I'm so sick of hearing about your perfection! How perfect you are for Sasuke, how you're better then me in modeling, just give it a rest!"

Almost the entire cafeteria went silent after Sakura finished. She was still breathing hard and felt limp in the legs. Yet Ino only smiled.

"See, I know it! You are jealous."

* * *

After her little speech in the cafeteria, Sakura had spent most of the afternoon with the school counselor, telling her mainly about Ino and how her best friend was driving her nuts with her so called perfection. She made it only in time for her last class before the bell rang and she was to wait outside for Sasuke. 

I'm sure Sasuke heard my little scream... She pulled some of her hair behind her ear. He probably won't even show now after hearing that. Then Orochimaru will be so angry with me and then---  
"Ready?" Sasuke's cool voice came up behind her.

"Oh, yes of course!" She said nervously as she then followed after Sasuke to his car. "Do you know our theme for today?"

Sasuke stayed silent.

"Do you know where the runway lessons will be held?"

Sasuke didn't reply to her again this time. "Get in," was all he said.

As they drove through town, Sakura, at several points during the car ride, wanted to apologize if he heard her little rant to Ino. She grew highly embarrassed as she began to think that the reason why Sasuke wasn't talking to her was because he heard her scream. Pursing her lips tightly, she went through her mind to start a conversation. But each conversation seemed to be as dumber as the last. Within forty minutes, Sasuke pulled up to the Konoha School of Dance.

"Konoha School of Dance?" Sakura said with confusment. "Why are we here?"

Sasuke shook his head and told Sakura to follow him up a few fleet up stairs. On the top floor of the dance school, cameras were set up as well a long narrow path where they would most likely be learning to walk.

"Dance?" Sakura tried to imagine what type of dancing they'd be doing. She knew well that this was where Ino used to do Ballet when she was younger, and had trouble imagining Sasuke in tights. The image made her giggle and then stop with slight disappointment. If they were doing Ballet like she thought, it meant she would be wearing tights as well. Herself in tights? What a horrible image.

"Sakura, there you are." Orochimaru said, grabbing her tightly by the arm and pulling her into the changing room that was connected to the dance room. "Quickly, get on the scale."

She did as she told, she quickly tore off her clothing and stepped onto the scale Orochimaru brought her.

"115lbs...better Sakura. I just hoping that for this shoot you'd look less like a cow in tights though." He hissed at her and tossed a set of black tights at her. "And change quickly."

115lbs. That number repeated through her mind over and over again. Did she really weigh that much? She was certain that even Ino weight 100 at the highest, and Tenten couldn't much higher either. She could only imagine what Sasuke weighed as well. Makeup and hair was done within five minutes for both her and Sasuke. She knew for this shoot balance was an important thing and it would be complicated for her.

"Sasuke, old Sakura's waist...yes! Just like that that's perfect!"

"Sakura, hold onto Sasuke's hand a little bit lighter, like you're just barely touching, perfect."

The comments came almost always positive and very little harsh critique was given out to them. Sakura figured she had the advantage here, after seeing Ino work with Ballet for years, she figured that if she just copied Ino's movements things would flow, and amazingly did. She felt silly for the times she was critiqued, it was mainly done around the time when Sasuke's hands would be placed around her torso or was close to her breasts. She would be embarrassed and fumble around, irritating Orochimaru over nothing to the point where he pulled out a beer can and began to drink it heavily, pointing to each photo he hated every now and then. After the shoot was finished, they were told to stay in their tights and to have a lesson on runway. She watched carefully as they had a woman and a man teach them how to walk properly. After watching the different walks there were several times, Sakura gave it a go, starting out with the elegant walk. Once or twice, she knew she lost her balance and her face went along with it. As Sasuke walked, he looked as if he had done it several times before and this was all just a simple review for him. Making Sakura to feel slightly embarrassed.

Runway lessons where going to be taught to them after every photoshoot, and according to Orochimaru, Tenten hired her own private instructor which explained why she wasn't there with them.

After Sasuke and Sakura had changed back into their regular clothing and where heading home, small talk was finally exchanged.

"Hungry?" He asked, turning his car into the lane where a fast food restaurant was.

Her eyes grew with disgust. She hated this certain restaurant and she was still beating herself up from eating the salad in the cafeteria. "No, it's alright. I'm not hungry."

Sasuke smiled and drove past the restaurant. "Do I take you home then?"

She nodded. "Yes, that would be fine. Thank you."

* * *

"Ino, can I ask you something?" Sakura asked, slightly embarrassed that she was asking this question out of all the ones in the world. 

"What is it?"

Sakura pursed her lips together. She was amazed that Ino was still friends with her after the cafeteria incident and hadn't brought it up at all since that day. Instead of bringing it up, Ino had invited Sakura over for a sleep over and asked her to go the movies and shopping with her the following day. She figured that if she asked this question, there would be more pride added onto the answer instead of leaving it as simple as could be. "How much do you weigh?" She knew Ino would most likely smile proudly and announce her light weight, saying that it was the perfect weight that anyone could be.

Yet Ino turned her head with a confused look. "98lbs. Why?"

Sakura's eyes grew. 98?! She weighs 98?! No, it's impossible, it can't be! There's no way she weighs less then I do. She's always pigging out and stuffing her face with sweets and fatty foods. There's just no way she could weigh less!

"I was just curious."

"Oh, so how much do you weigh then?"

Sakura's heart skipped a beat. It had been three days since she last weighed herself and wasn't sure if 115lbs was the right amount. "I'm not sure, do you have a scale?" She said a little to quickly.

"Yeah, in my bathroom."

"Thanks."

She stepped onto the scale and after calculating the extra weight of her clothing, she read off the number. "112lbs..." she said bleakly.

"112?" Ino said with a small hint of laughter in her voice. "I didn't know I weighed that much less then you!"

"I knew you'd be thrilled to find that out." Sakura spat bitterly.

Ino smiled, obviously happy that she did weigh less then Sakura. "Maybe you should cut down on the sweets, Sakura. I mean, you're not gonna be famous like Tenten if you keep shoving food down your throat the way you do. You could lose your job if you don't drop a few pounds you know."

Sakura bit her lip. "I'll keep that in mind..."

The smile on Ino's face grew. "Alright. So, anyway, Shikamaru asked me out for next weekend! He called before you arrived and asked me if I wanted to go on a date with him this Saturday. I thought it'd be rude to ditch for a date that'll probably be a disappointment, so I told him that I'd go on a date with him next weekend because I was going to have a girls day out. Speaking of which, have you figured out movie you wanted to see tomorrow?"

"Hm?" Sakura broke out of her small daze. "Oh, no. I was thinking that maybe that new movie with Yukie Fujikaze. I heard she was staring in a Ninja romance movie, the plot sounded interesting and I figured we'd both enjoy it."

Throughout the day, Sakura and Ino had hit several stores in the mall, most being clothing stores and when they had finally finished shopping several hours later, their purses were incredibly light. The movie, they both agreed, was Yukie's best yet and had to see it again. As they headed to the exit of the mall, someone caught Sakura's eye.

Walking out of a jewerly store, Tenten was happily walking with her arms wrapped around a boys, who must've been her boyfriend.

"Tenten!" Sakura happily called. "It's me, Sakura!"

Ino's body whipped around with lights in her eyes, scanning around for Tenten. When she finally saw what was right infront of her, she burst into squeals. "Tenten! Do you remember me? I think you should, I'm Ino from the modeling competition a couple weeks ago."

Tenten gave a weak smile and ignored Ino. "Sakura, this is my boyfriend, Neji. The one I was telling you about a couple days ago."

Neji was a stern looking teen with long black hair that was tied into a ponytail and large ice-blue eyes. He was tall, maybe an inch or so taller then Tenten, and had a small, yet muscular build to him.

"I'm Haruno Sakura." She said, sticking out her hand. "Tenten's always talking about you."

Neji took her hand and shook it lightly. "She tells me you're also a model."

She nodded. "Yes, I'm no where near as good as Tenten though."

With the comment, Tenten turned light pink.

Neji looked over at Ino, who was looking highly pissy for the lack of attention she was receiving. "You are?"

Ino smiled for finally getting some attention. "Yamanaka Ino. I work with Suna Models. A smaller, yet better, modeling agency."

Neji raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"So how's the runway lessons going?" Tenten asked.

"Oh good." Sakura beamed. "Sasuke and I are having the lessons together, and I think I've finally nailed walking on high heals."

Ino rolled her eyes.

"So..." Sakura continued, "how did you and Neji meet?"

"School." She said proudly, tightening her grip on his arm. "I moved to Kyoshi from Kyushu in the sixth grade. I was extremely shy when I first moved there since I didn't know anyone and everyone else had been friends since birth. On my first day there, Neji and his friend Lee, befriended me." She stopped and blushed, remembering the old days. "During our second term in the eighth grade, Neji asked me out and we've been together ever since."

Sakura and Ino awed. "That's so romantic," they both said with a hint of both envy and admiration in their voice.

"Do you know if Sasuke's dating anyone?" Ino asked quickly.

Tenten shook her head. "Sasuke's never dated before. Not once has he ever become close with another human. He won't even talk to his only surviving family member!"

Sakura's jaw dropped. "He won't talk to his only surviving family member? Why not?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. He won't talk to me about it. He just says that he hates his brother and has no time for love."

Ino smiled. "I can change that. I'm sure if I talked to him, he'd fall head-over-heals in love with me."

Neji let out a stiffed laugh and Tenten gave a look of disbelief.

Tenten shook her head. "Sasuke's never dated before. Not once has he ever become close with another human. He won't even talk to his only surviving family member!"

Neji let out a stiffed laugh and Tenten turned red from holding her own laughter in.

"What?" She snapped. "You don't think I can make him fall in love with me?"

Tenten shook her head. "Sorry, but no. Sasuke's just not that type of guy."

Ino rolled her eyes once more.

The conversation of Sasuke dropped there and it was then moved into the review of the new Yukie Fujikaze movie. After a long disscusion of the movie was given out, Tenten and Neji headed their own way down the mall while Ino and Sakura headed out to the parking lot. Sakura didn't dare bring up any hints that she had seen Tenten doing 'medication' in her room and was happy she didn't.

"I don't see what's the big deal about her." Ino hissed darkly as her dad pulled out of the parking lot. "She's not that great and I can't see why anyone would want to hire her at all. It's like that Temari girl you hang around with. She's so unattractive it's amazing she even won the contest. You know all of her photos have to be photoshop."

Sakura shook her head. _You just hate Tenten because she's better then you. It's the only reason you hate her and it's the same thing with Temari. You only hate her because she beat you in the competition, it would explain why you never want to hang out with me when Temari comes along. And me...the only reason you're friends with me still is because you know that I'm lower then you. I'm just your sidekick, the one who's over-looked, while you're the one with all the eyes on you. It's the only reason why we're friends._

"How was the movie, Sakura?" Her mother asked as she walked through front door.

"Oh, it was good. Ino and I did tons of shopping as well and then we ran into Ama Tenten and her boyfriend." Sakura said with a tired tone.

"Sounds like you had fun. Do you want some dinner? It's your favorite, California Rolls and cocktail shrimp."

Sakura turned pink and shook her head. "No, it's okay. Ino and I had some Pizza just a few minutes before we left the mall. I had a _huge_ slice and I can't eat anymore."

Her mother smiled. "Well, when you get hungry it'll be in the fridge."

"Thanks."

Sakura rushed to her bedroom and closed the door, locking it in hopes that she wouldn't be disturbed. Removing every piece of her clothing except for her underwear Sakura examined herself in the vanity mirror in her room. After spending several minutes of running her fingers along her hardly visible ribs, collarbone and hipbones, she pulled out a measuring rope. After wrapping it around her bust, waist, and torso she pulled out a small tiny notebook from her shirt drawer and wrote down her current status.

**Date: **Janruary 5th, 2007

**Bust Size:** 30inch

**Hip Size:** 34 1/2inch

**Torso Size:** 25 1/2inch

**Current Weight:** 112lbs

She shook her head in disgust as she read off the status once more to herself. She had gone 17 hours without eating and it had gotten her nowhere.

* * *

Author's notes - Well, this one turned out really good compared to my last chapter, and look, Sasuke even had some pretty big scenes himself. I know Neji's eyes aren't ice-blue but really... Anyway, I just wanted to point out that Yuki Fujikaze (a.k.a - Princess Fuun and Koyuki Kazehana) is a girl in the first Naruto movie. She's an actress and it seemed to fit perfectly if I used her instead of some American actress. So now I have another poll for my readers! There has been large question about Orochimaru's sexuality. I haven't really thought much of it, so now I leave it all up to you; 

Should Orochimaru be...

1 - Gay. 2 - Straight. 3 - Bisexual. 4 - Leave him just the way he is and let the readers use their imagination.

This question really isn't important but I'm getting a little annoyed having to answer with "I don't know" for his sexuality. I think I was making him act really gay, by accident of course, but I'll clear it up after the votes come in and I write the next chapter.

Thank you for reading.


	6. The First Time

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto

Author's notes - Oooh, watching the latest Naruto episodes in English really inspired me. (Laughs) I'm one who sees' Orochimaru as a highly gay character so watching him talk with that voice of his just inspired me. Odd yes, but his creepiness helps so much in this story. Good news, I'm bringing in a new character in today! Well loved and highly popular - Kakashi! I thank my sister for the idea of what role he should play in this story. Very fitting in my opinion, anyway, as for what Sexuality Orochimaru is...majority rules and he is going to be** Bisexual**. (This will not change, no matter how hard you plead. Sorry. Majority rules.) I'm actually happy he's this sexuality, it'll help for something big I have planned in a later chapter.

* * *

For the entire week, Sakura tried to go at least a day without eating. Restricting herself constantly and saying that she had eaten. The plan failed miserably when she would then eat in her room with the door closed and the music on loud so her family would think she was simply hanging out in her room. She grew disgusted at how large the pile of candy wrappers had become in her room from all the eating she had been doing. Things grew even worse when Ino happily announced on Wednesday before school that she had gone down from 98 to 95, and just in time for her date with Shikamaru. Feeling more miserable, Sakura told herself that she would not eat throughout the entire weekend, no matter what. 

"Sakura, Ino's on the phone." Her mother sang as she brought in the phone to Sakura's room. "She apologizes for calling so early but she said it was important."

"Hello?" Sakura said with a small tone of irritation.

"Hi! Hinata wants to know if you want to go out for Pizza today, around noon?" Ino's happy voice came from the other line. "After wards you can help us get ready for our dates, if you want, oh, and you can stay at my house while we're out then we'll come back and watch a movie, how does that sound?"

Sakrua bit her lip. She had forgotten that Ino was going to double date with Hinata and Naruto. "Sure..." She said, hoping to avoid food talk. "I'll help you get ready and I'd love to watch a movie."

"What about Pizza?"

"I'll be there." She said a little to fast.

"Good. I'll see you around noon then. Bye."

"Bye." Sakura hung up the phone and let her face fall onto her pillow. She could only avoid food for so long before it came back to torture her. Things weren't going according to plan and Orochimaru would snap at her once more for stuffing her face. She had to be grateful though, Orochimaru was one of the best and she was dreading seeing him again, when several people would have loved to have him. Sakura closed her eyes and pushed her face deeper into the pillow. _But how do I explain my weight gain to him? 'Oh, I'm sorry Orochimaru. My friends wanted me to go out for Pizza and I just couldn't say no!' That won't work at all...I suppose I could have a salad while I'm there. _Her stomach growled loudly. _Yes. Just a salad. If I have to eat, that'll be it._

A few hours later, Ino, Hinata, and Sakura sat in the Pizza restaurant. Two of them debating on what type of Pizza they should order, while one sipped her diet beverage with caution.

"Sakura, we can't decide. What kind of Pizza do you want?" Ino snapped after Hinata asked for cheese.

Sakura's eyes grew large and she pulled her lips off of the straw she had been sucking on for the past five minutes. "Um...cheese is good, like Hinata said."

Hinata beamed happily at the majority rule of the type of Pizza they were going to have while Ino's eyes narrowed and called the nearest waiter for their order.

"So!" Ino turned her head back to Sakura and Hinata. "I bought a new outfit for my date tonight. Dad says it's to revealing but what does he know, right? I mean, fashion has changed from his day of youth. Besides, the outfit is revealing at all. It's just a simple short purple skirt with a matching purple tank, that's not revealing is it." She finished her sentence with high pride over the outfit.

Hinata and Sakura nodded. "Not at all." They both said.

"I-I bought a new ou-outfit as well." Hinata stuttered, blushing as she continued to talk. "It's nothing fa-fancy l-like Ino's outfit b-but it's really nice."

"What does it look like, Hinata?" Sakura asked.

Hinata blushed more. "I-it's just a n-new pair of jeans...a-and a fancy t-top with a b-butterfly on it."

"Sounds adorable."

"I-it is."

The conversation of what they were going to wear to their dates carried on until their Pizza arrived. Immediately Ino and Hinata grabbed a slice and began to it their food happily, adding on about how they were planning to style their hair in-between bites. Sakura didn't even secretly long for a slice, but her stomach growled in pain as Ino reached for her second slice.

"Why aren't you eating, Sakura?" Ino finally noticed that Sakura was still was still working on her diet drink.

"Oh! S-sorry, I was daydreaming for a minute." Her eyes shifted to the Salad bar which was closed then to the Pizza pan which had only two small slices. She had no choice but to eat the Pizza, and reluctantly grabbed the smallest slice their was and ate it.

After lunch, the girls headed over to Ino's house were tons of makeup and hair accessories had been laid out for them to experiment with. First, out came Hinata in her outfit. It was much nicer then Hinata had explained it as grew highly embarrassed when Sakura demanded she did her makeup, hair, and jewelry. While Ino showered, Sakura pulled out all the items she needed and began to work on Hinata.

"I'm really basing it off of your shirt." She explained, attaching a butterfly pendent around Hinata's neck.

When Ino came out of the shower forty minutes later, Hinata was ready. Butterflies were everywhere upon Hinata. Sakura added a butterfly necklace, bracelet, and hair clips to Hinata that matched her new shirt. She blushed deeply when she saw herself in the mirror and thanked Sakura for making her look so nice.

Ino shortly then came out of her bedroom wearing the new outfit. It was a little revealing. The tank didn't cover her stomach completely and it was open for full view. The skirt was shorter then both had imagined and only covered her hips, nothing more.

Sakura and Hinata both pursed their lips together and silently agreed that they wouldn't say a word about the outfit, only compliment that she looked nice while they did her makeup, hair, and jewelry.

Within fifteen minutes, they had finished Ino's small 'makeover' and the three of them waited for Naruto and Shikamaru. Ino had informed her that she'd be the only one in the house until she came back from her date and was allowed to do anything in the house until she came back. So, at eight o'clock that night she said goodbye to Hinata and Ino who headed out to the movies with Naruto and Shikamaru, leaving her to do whatever she wanted.

For the first twenty minutes, Sakura treated herself to some t.v. but grew bored after a while with being the only person at home. For the next half hour she slipped onto Ino's computer and read her mail which had pilled up into mostly spam. For the next hour and ten minutes, Sakura read a book she brought along with her. Ino never approved with the series and apparently was 'forbidden to read it while she was nearby' but it didn't stop Sakura at all. In her opinion it was the greatest series ever written and enjoyed that it took her away into a different place, where there were dragons, witches, wizards, and a battle between good and evil. At times, Sakura wished her life was that amazing.

When Hinata and Ino came back at ten, both looked exhausted and tired.

"How was it?" Sakura asked, closing her book.

"I-it was nice!" Squeaked Hinata. "N-naruto even g-gave me a k-kiss!"

Sakura smiled. "And did Shikamaru kiss you, Ino?"

Ino rolled her eyes. "No, but he moved enough to walk me to the front door."

"Aw, that's sweet." Sakura's smile grew.

"S-should I put in the movie?" Hinata asked, holding the DVD case in her hand.

Ino plopped her body down on the couch. "Sure, I could use a chick flick after watching that _manly_ action/adventure show."

* * *

"You went out for lunch with your friends, did you?" Orochimaru's eyes narrowed as he he circled around Sakura's nearly nude body on the scale. 

"It was just a girls-time-out, and I only had one slice..." She whispered, growing colder and colder by the second.

"Gaining a pound for a few hours of fun is no excuse, Sakura." He hissed directly at her before a smirk crossed his face. "Your birthday is in March, correct?"

"M-march 28th, yes."

"That's three months from now...I expect you to weight at least 100lbs, and yes, I'm sure_ you_ can lose 13lbs in three months." His smirk grew as he watched her disbelief expression. "Now put your clothes on and go to room fifteen. Your photoshoot is in ten minutes."

Sakura nodded and quickly pulled her clothes on and raced out of the door to room fifteen. When she arrived, Sakura was almost confused when she saw her props on the table next to the cameras. A broomstick, wand, and a small black kitten that slept happily by the brooms bottom. The theme finally clicked to her; witches.

Feeling a bit more relaxed she quickly sat down in her makeup chair where the usual artists began to decorate her hair and face. After a few minutes of hair and makeup she put on her outfit, a short black witch dress with matching thick black stockings and boots. Happily, she put on her modeling clothing and grabbed the wand and broom. The kitten, she was informed, would be brought to her when Jiraiya gave the word.

Reading about witches in her book gave her a little bit of a boost and experience. Sakura took the knowledge she had about witches her age and took it into her modeling. Showing curiosity, happiness, sadness, and laughter while using the wand and broomstick. The kitten was given to her after seventy frames were done and then began to work with the animal, adding the wand or broomstick in once more in every other shot.

"Beautiful, Sakura!" Said Jiraiya as he set his camera down. "You can change and leave now, Orochimaru informed me that there will be no runway lessons today."

"Oh, thank you." She replied, paying more attention to the kitten in her arms.

After Sakura finished getting changed and she had removed all of the makeup, she headed down the hallway, hoping to run into Sasuke or Tenten for a little bit of a talk before she went back home.

"Hello." Said a optimistic sounding voice.

Sakura perked her head up. In front of her was a tall man, possibly a model, with gray-white hair a mask that covered most of his face. He held himself poorly in the shoulders and in his left hand was a book she knew a little to much about from Naruto and Jiraiya; Come Come Paradise.

"Hello. I'm Haruno Sakura."

"Nice running into you, Miss Haruno. You wouldn't of happen to see my Foster child, would you? I'm afraid I got lost on the way here and I can't find him anywhere." The man said with a slight daze in his voice.

"Um, well, who's your Foster child? I'm sure if you gave me a name or description I'd be able to help you better."

"Uchiha Sasuke. I'm sure you know him."

Sakura's eyes grew to a large size. "Sasuke is your Foster child?"

"Oh so you do know him?" The man's voice perked out of it's daze.

"Yes, actually I do. We go to school together and we've modeled together a few times. I haven't seen him, but I can help you look for him Mr...?"

"Just call me Kakashi, the 'Mr' makes me seem old." He smiled from under the mask.

Sakura smiled back. "Alright. Well, like I said, I haven't seen him today but I can help you."

While Kakashi and Sakura wandered around the agency in search of Sasuke, Sakura's mind was jumping with joy_. Cha! I scored here! Being with Sasuke's Foster Father will give me a jump start at being able to get closer to Sasuke! _

"Can I ask you a quick question?" Asked Sakura, looking at Kakashi's mask.

"Of course."

"Why do you wear that mask over your face?" She said with a highly curious tone of voice.

"...Sasuke doesn't tell me anything, so could you possibly tell me how things are going for him at school?" Kakashi said, changing the subject immediately.

Sakura frowned. "Well, I'm not sure how things are going. We haven't been in school for a couple weeks, as you know...besides that, Sasuke and I never really talk to each other. He always sits in his seat and does the assignment with a bored look on his face. When I get the chance to talk to him, he's still a little silent and snaps at me if I make comments about certain things. And---oh, here is!" Sakura walked inside a lounging room where there was several vending machines and couches for family and friends to stay while their model finished up.

Sasuke was sitting on one of the couches, flipping through a magazine as if he was looking for something certain. "You're late." He said when Kakashi came up behind the couch.

"Sorry. I got lost on the way. Miss Haruno though was kind enough to help me find you."

Sakura smiled at her name.

Sasuke ignored Kakashi and turned to Sakura.

"Hi Sasuke." She said with the same smile upon her face.

"Hm..." Replied Sasuke.

"Be nice Sasuke, if it wasn't for Sakura I'd still be looking for you." Kakashi cooed, treating Sasuke like a toddler.

Sasuke glared at Kakashi then moved his eyes back to Sakura. "Thank you for helping him. It's amazing he's only an hour late." He then got up from the couch and walked out of the room. "I'll see you tomorrow at school."

"Sorry. Sasuke can have such a bad attitude at times. Nice meeting you though." Kakashi said, running after Sasuke.

_So much for getting close to Sasuke. _She thought as she sat down where Sasuke was.

"What are you doing in here Sakura? Come to stuff your face?" Orochimaru's voice filled the room, causing Sakura to jump a bit.

"No. I was helping Sasuke's Foster parent look for him." She said truthfully, even though she knew Orochimaru wasn't going to believe her.

"Hm...well Miss Haruno, I been going over your weight for the past month and I'm so disappointed that it's like a yo-yo." He walked into the room and closed the door behind him. "So I've enrolled you into a Martial Arts group, which will help you lose weight."

"Marital Arts? But won't that make me gain muscle? I thought that weighed more."

"Well if you're not shoving food down your throat so much you'll lose both." He snapped back at her. "And since you've been putting your meeting with Miss Ama off, I've arranged a meeting date. Next weekend, after your weigh in. If you do not go, the punishment I give you will be deep, do you understand, Sakura?"

She nodded in fear. Never before had he threatened to punish her.

"Good. Oh, and Sakura..." His eyes followed her as she tried to get around him to the door. "I've changed my mind about your weight...I want you to be 100 by February 28th. Two months. I'm sure you'll be able to pull it off. Right?"

Sakura pushed the door open. "Yes, of course."

* * *

"...and so for a back-to-school assignment; I'm going to set you in groups of two and you have to give me a project about drugs in two weeks." Iruka-Sensei announced as he then began to list off the couples for the drug project. "...Yamanaka Ino and Nara Shikamaru..." -- Ino smiled. -- "...lastly Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura." 

Sakura's eyes lit up. _She_ was going to be doing a project with Sasuke? She'd be able to spend the next two weeks with him researching and making a project with him that would possibly mean meeting at one of their homes. Her eyes moved to Sasuke who showed no sign of emotion towards having Sakura as a partner.

After school Sakura had no need to rush to Sasuke about the project, to her sudden surprise he came up to her.

"Hey..." He said in his usual voice. "About the project..."

"Um...we could meet up with each other on Saturday at your house maybe?" She said hopefully.

"The library will be better. We'll meet there and Saturday will work fine."

Her heart sunk a little, knowing she wouldn't be able to go to his house but was slightly happy that he still agreed to meet up with her and study. "Alright. I'll see you then."

Arriving at the agency two hours later, Orochimaru waited by the front desk, obviously there to make sure she would come to the meeting like according to plan. After quickly weighing her (113lbs.) He informed her that Tenten was in her room and that she should knock before entering.

"Tenten, Orochimaru planned a meeting for us today. I hope I'm not bothering you." Sakura knocked on the door, remembering what had happened last time and the notice Orochimaru gave her.

"Right, come on in." Tenten called from the other side of the door.

"I don't really know what he has planned." Sakura said, sitting down across from Tenten. "He said I had to come to you for advice...at least I think it was advice...but I kept putting it off or I forgot."

Tenten gave a weak smile. "Well...I'm wishing he forgot about it."

"How come?"

"Orochimaru..." she started, "wants me to teach you how to use drugs."

Sakura's eyes grew twice their size. "Drugs? I was right! You were doing drugs that one day I walked in on you, Sasuke said it was medication and I believed him! He was just covering up for you! This whole place is insane!"

"Keep your voice down!" Tenten shot up and covered Sakura's mouth.

"Listen...Orochimaru...h-he's crazy for wanting me to teach this to you but Sakura, you don't know what he'll do to us if you don't do the drugs. It's just the safest thing if you do them."

Sakura pulled away from Tenten's grip. "Safest thing? You think doing _drugs_ will be the safest thing? Tenten, don't know you know what can happen to you if you do them?"

"Of course I know...I don't want to do this either, but Sakura, it's necessary! Please, just so I can at least say I taught you..."

Sakura bit her lip. "Why do you have to teach me anyway?"

Tenten shook her head. "I just have to."

Carefully, Tenten pulled out a small bag of cocaine and two mirrors and straws. "I'll explain to you how to do it...then after watching me do it yourself...alright?"

Sakura nodded and continued to watch as Tenten poured a small amount of cocaine onto a mirror.

"Lock the door please...I don't want anyone walking in on us."

She quickly ran to the door and locked it, when she arrived back at the table, she was honestly looking forward to doing the cocaine as the seconds passed on. Everything she learned in school and t.v. specials had done nothing for her excitement now. Once each mirror had three rows of cocaine, Tenten sat down in the chair. "Place the straw up one of your nostrils, then place it at the start of a row." Tenten did what she just explained, and Sakura followed. "Cover one nostril with your index finger and snort in while slowly running along the line." Tenten did as she just explained once more and Sakura followed.

Her mind raced as had her first intake of cocaine. It burned like crazy but she bit through it and continued to snort up the powder. As she continued her head began to stop and spin and it felt like the world was spinning with her. Tenten seemed to be going through the same thing. Not even finished her first row of cocaine, Sakura fainted on Tenten's lap who continued snorting up her rows.

* * *

Author's notes - Well,_ obviously_ I've never done cocaine, so that was probably highly inaccurate. I did read an article about Kate Moss doing cocaine, so I took my poor knowledge of that and twisted it into Tenten and Sakura's drug usage, and before anyone asks - Tenten's _not_ a badguy, she means well. In later chapters I will explain why she was making Sakura do the drugs with her. (Though I'm sure a few of you know the reason why already, lol.) Anyway, it's been a rough week, my computer broke down and I got my first flame ('bout time too! I feel like you people are saying nice things just to be nice, lol.) claiming that I stole the idea of my friends 30Kisses when she started a good month or so after me. (Rolles eyes) Fucking moron...anyway sorry my little whiner comment I just had to let out how irritated I was with some of the people on this site. 

Thank you for reading.


	7. Pain

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto. (It wouldn't even be called _Naruto_ if owned it...it'd be called _Sasuke _if it was mine, lol.)

Author's notes - Here we go, chapter seven. Whew, lately I've been writing my butt off and with extra Martial Arts training this month that I've been doing I'm just really tired not to mention all the brainstorming, lol...anyway - I'm bringing in a few more characters and two new OTP's, so be on the lookout. Also, I am deeply sorry if my story disturbs you with it's drug-use and Anorexia. Poor, Moiraine becomes depressed easily and I've seemed to have deeply disturbed her, so to her kind request, when another self-hate or drug moment comes up. I will end the paragraph before it happens with a bolded period to give a warning. (Sorry if I disturb others, but I'm trying to keep it realistic...and yes, this is how an Anorexic views herself at the start of her disorder. If you're disturbed now, I'd hate to see how you react in the future chapters...) Anyway, I'm sorry if I can off pissy in this AN. Watching the _Tyra Banks Show_ a while back highly offended me with her Eating Disorder episode and I've been snapping at everyone because of it.

* * *

Sakura groaned and clutched her head from the pain that powered it. "Oh...my head..." She wined out, sitting up from the couch she was asleep on. "What the hell...?" Next to her was Tenten, who was still asleep and looked highly comfortable for someone who had a body sleep on her lower half all night. The table next to her showed two and a half lines of cocaine and a small bag behind the lines. "Right...Tenten and I..." She mumbled, standing up and brushing off her clothing. She then glanced up to the clock that showed it was almost eight. She had been out cold for a good twelve hours. 

Thankfully she was given several hours to drive home and shower before she had to meet up with Sasuke. Quickly gathering her purse and shoes which she had slipped off of her feet while she was out, Sakura made her way to the door before coming to a sudden halt. Her head turned back to Tenten who was still sleeping peacefully on the couch and then moved to the bag of cocaine that was still out for the world to see.

Quietly, Sakura tip-toed over to the table and scooped up the drugs. Dropping the bag carefully into her purse as soon as she reached the door again. Growing slightly paranoid as she passed another person.

At home, Sakura placed the cocaine under her bed in a box where her 'treasured items' stayed. She was about to jump into the shower where the ringing phone stopped her. The number was unknown to her and confusedly, she answered the phone.

"Hello?" She said in her regular phone-voice.

There was a mute moment on the other line before Sasuke's voice replied. "Sorry Sakura, I can't go do research with you today." He didn't sound sorry at all.

"Oh, that's alright. I'm held up as well...we'll just study at school then." Sakura replied, disappointed.

"Alright. Bye."

Before she could reply, Sasuke had hung up the phone.

She sighed and tossed the phone onto her bed. At this rate, she was never going to get close to Sasuke, and Ino would probably be right about him liking her more. Ino always was the popular one, the pretty one, and the one everyone wanted to be with. It wouldn't have surprised her in the least if he was with Ino currently and that was his excuse to not being able to come study with her. To Ino, it mattered less that she was currently dating Shikamaru. Sasuke was the real man she wanted, and Shikamaru was just the time-killer.

* * *

Sakura drummed her fingers along her desk early Monday morning. Iruka-Sensei was, for some odd reason, late for teachings and several people had begun to question of why he was late. Naruto and Kiba came up with several bizarre things that could have happened to him on his way to work that made Hinata gasp in horror. 

"Sorry I'm late class!" Iruka-Sensei said as he burst through the door fifteen minutes after the bell rang. His clothes out of line, hair messed up and a deep crimson blush forming over the scar across his face. "I - er - got held up."

Hinata gasped once more, and several of the girls began to giggle heavily. While most of the boys made sounds of disgust or comments of why he was held up. Sakura herself was slightly disturbed with the information given to her even though it was not vivid.

"I know why you were 'held up' Sensei!" Burst out Naruto after the noise went down.

"O-oh, well we don't need to discuss it now, Naruto." Iruka-Sensei mumbled, his blush becoming a deeper shade by the minute.

"You were with Miss Mitarashi again huh?" He said, laughing loudly.

Sakura covered he mouth. She couldn't help but giggle at the thought of her home-room and phys ed Sensei's being together.

Kiba's laughs were then powered with Naruto's. "I guess now we know why it's called _physical_ education!"

Once more, Hinata gasped and more girls giggled. The boys all laughed with Naruto and Kiba, except for Sasuke. Who sat quietly at his desk with the same bored look on his face.

"Th-that's enough! Kiba, Naruto, one more word and I'll have to send you both to the Principals office." Iruka-Sensei stammered. "F-for those of you who gathered information over the weekend, please get with your partner to go over notes and start thinking of a project to create. For the rest of you, with your partners head to the library for computer usage. And remember to be quiet!" He added as Naruto quickly began to add onto Kiba's physical education comment.

Sakura quickly pulled out a pencil and notebook where important notes/information was kept. She lined up with Sasuke and the others (which was a fairly large group) and headed to the library. It wasn't the city one like she wanted, but any alone time with Sasuke was better then none at all.

Assigned to a computer, Sasuke quickly began to look up the different types of drugs there were, information on drug-abuse, signs, and symptoms of drug usage and what happens to your body while you take them. He found each site easily, as if he spent his weekend looking for the best sites there were. Sakura found it nearly impossible to keep up with his searching, as she wrote down as much as she could on each topic of information in a fast chicken-scratch writing. In ten minutes time, they had all the information that they needed (or at least an amount that pleased Sasuke) and headed to a nearby table to quickly go through the notes and write out some ideas. Class was ending soon and they both knew it was for the best to get as much as they could done today before Iruka-Sensei became frustrated with those who were lacking in their project.

"Why don't we just do the project on a poster-board?" Sakura suggested, chewing the tip of her pen. "It's simple and can be done in just a few hours."

Sasuke flipped through their notes. "Two poster-boards...there's enough information to fill two, maybe three..."

Her eyes lit up. "So, should we plan a meeting date so we can make these poster-boards? I was thinking tomorrow after school. It's the only day I'm not busy, what about you?"

"Tomorrow will work."

"And where should we meet?" She said with desperation in her tone. "The Library? Your house? My house?"

"My house will be best...Kakashi will be out and we won't be disturbed."

Sakura's heart pounded with joy. _We won't be disturbed? Maybe Sasuke wants to take that time to get close to me...Cha! Take that Ino and your stupid theory!_

Later that night, after Sakura had finished sketching out plans for the poster-boards, she called Ino to tell her the happy news of her and Sasuke being alone for a few hours. She figured Ino would be furious but she couldn't help but feel happy for herself.

"Hello...is Ino there?" Sakura asked, falling down onto her bed.

"Speaking." Ino said on the other line. "What's up?"

"Oh nothing...I'm going over to Sasuke's house tomorrow..." She said very fast and then quickly added, "What about you?"

"_What?!_" Ino screamed on the other line. "How did you get the invite to his house? He doesn't even like you!"

Sakura was calm and reached for the new magazine that had just been given to her in the mail. "We're working together on Iruka-Sensei's drug project. After we finished doing research, we planned to meet together after school at his house to start working on the main project." She began to flip through her magazine.

"Hmm...well, you know it's only for the project. He's so not into you at all!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and turned the page. "I know, I kno-- oh my god!"

"What?! What happened?"

In the magazine was one of those cheesy looking adds for perfume where they had a male and female model. The male model, shirtless, wet, and next to the bottle of the perfume was and un-photoshopped Sasuke. Sakura was stunned and was feeling all the blood rush to her crimson blush. "Nothing...there was just a spider." She didn't think Ino had to know about the photo. It would probably lead to a small obsession and argument at some point.

* * *

"I hope you don't mind that the poster-boards are light blue, Sasuke." Said Sakura as she followed him to his door. "There weren't many colors to choose from and most of them were floresent." 

Sasuke opened the door to a simple looking home. It had plain white walls and a few pictures hung up on the walls she could see. It was obvious to her that it had been a long time since a female was in the house. As he quickly showed her around, it became more manly. No more pictures where on the walls, no plants, and no extra furniture. The only room that had a female touch -- which did not surprise her in the least -- was Kakashi's room where female undergarments and clothing littered the floor with Kakashi's own clothing.

"His girlfriend has a habit of leaving her stuff here..." Sasuke muttered, shutting the door.

"R-right...um...so where should we do our project?"

"Living room." He said, guiding her to a large room with an equally large television set, a couch, and two chairs. "You can set up. I need to make a quick call."

It didn't take her anytime to set up all of ther material for the project. Scissors, glue, paper, pictures of drug users, notes, and two poster-boards. As soon as she finished, Sasuke came back into the room and began to help her layout the project.

"So..." Sakura started after a few short minutes of silence. "I saw your perfume add in a magazine last night...who was the girl with you?"

"Sendok Temari."

Sakura's eyes grew. "Sendok Temari? You mean the girl who also won in the competition?"

"Yes."

"Wow, I couldn't recognize her." She mumbled with slightly jealousy in her voice. "She looks so different in black and white shoots."

That was the end of their conversation. From then on it was simple words of 'where should I put this?' and 'how about this over here?' in no time it was nearly finished and all what was left to do was glue a few more pictures and give themselves credit for the work.

"You and your girlfriend did a good job, Sasuke."

Sakura and Sasuke both turned their heads around to see Kakashi and a tall and thin girl with short brown hair, large grown eyes, and a dorky smile standing at the entrance to the living room.

"She's _not_ my girlfriend." Sasuke snapped. "And I didn't expect you to be home for another hour at least either."

Kakashi shrugged and scratched the back of his head. "Rin wanted to meet Sakura."

The girl named Rin smiled again and gave a quick wink. "She's cute, Sasuke."

Sasuke shot Rin a nasty look and began to gather up the stuff they were working on. "We'll finish it at school, Sakura."

* * *

How was she going to be able to fit school-work, modeling, and Martial Arts into her already busy schedule? Four times a week she was to come to this school and train for an hour, then she was to quickly finish school-work she had not finished before she arrived. On the weekends she drove up to Kyoshi for five hours of modeling and came back down once more just to finish schooling or practice in her Martial Arts or modeling. It seemed impossible to her. 

As soon as she walked into the school, a tall man with tanned skin, large bushy eyebrows, and a weird hair-cut greeted her. "Hello, I'm Maito Gai." He said happily, sticking out his hand. "You must be Haruno Sakura."

Sakura was stunned that the man knew her name and shook his hand back. "Yes...how did you know?"

"Mikatochi Orochimaru enrolled you on Friday and gave a small description on your looks." The man pulled his hand away and called for a boy named 'Lee' to bring out her uniform.

Lee was a tall and thin boy who had the same bushy eyebrows and weird hair-cut that Gai had. His eyes were a bit more softer and could pass as a much younger version of him. Sakura noticed that unlike the other students, Lee's hands and feet were wrapped over several times, which made curiosity rise.

"Here you are, Gai-Sensei." Said Lee, holding the uniform as though it was something important.

"Thank you...now go and give me twenty laps around the border of the mats." Gai ordered with the same smile upon his face. "Sakura, will please follow me."

Gai brought her to a office room where files, awards, and a large desk/computer set rested. He sat down in a large black chair and offered her a smaller version of it. Over the next fifteen minutes, Gai went over the rules and terms of Martial Arts and the benefits of what it also had to include. He let her use the bathroom to change and then informed her that Lee would be taking her through the basic warm-ups and moves for the next two weeks.

"Stretching is simple really." Lee said, sitting down onto the ground and began to stretch out is calf muscles after he made her run around the mats five times. "Take it slow, and go as far as you can without pushing your body."

Sakura gasped out in pain. "Is it supposed to hurt this much?" She couldn't believe she thought Ms Mitarashi was rough. Never in P.E. had she made Sakura do any of these weird stretches and warm-ups.

"It's natural for starters." Lee said sympathetically. "Give it time though and you'll be able to bring your head down to her knees."

By the end of the lesson, Sakura felt much more limber and skilled as she walked into the bathroom to change back. Knowing four basic kicks, punches, and four types of blocks and being able to stretch better after Lee gave her some pointers, she figured this Martial Arts thing wasn't going to be as bad as it seemed to be in all the tough-action movies she saw.

When she walked out of the restroom, finally changed back into her normal clothing and her new uniform folded and tucked neatly under her arm, she saw Lee waiting for her by the door.

"As you know, my name is Lee. _Rock_ Lee to be exact." He said confidently. "I was wondering if you'd like to go on a date?" A small cherry-shaded blush formed on his cheeks.

"Sorry...but...no." She said quietly.

Lee's blush had disappeared and a look of sadness cross his face. "Oh...I understand..."

"N-no, it's not beca---"

"You won't date me until I become a Black Belt! I understand it completely. You want me to reach my goal first before becoming involved with anyone. Wonderful decision, Sakura!" Lee said in a confidante and highly optimistic voice.

Sakura's jaw dropped. "Yes, of course...if you want to put it that way..."

* * *

"Where is it?!" Tenten asked, rushing over to Sakura as soon as she walked through the door. A look of desperation was on her face and she looked almost frightened. "I haven't seen it since the day I taught you. Where is it?" 

Sakura bit her lip and clutched her bag tightly. "I don't know wh-what you're talking about." She all of a sudden felt hot an panicky. "I have to meet with Orochimaru now...excuse me**."**

As she walked by Tenten, who gave a look of wrath, Sakura's hot feeling rose and rose and her breathing became iratic. She knew it was wrong to have taken the bag from her and was planning on returning it to get her own from Orochimaru, but the thought of Tenten grilling her over a bag of cocaine made her panic and fear if she told anyone. To calm herself down, she slipped some coins into the vending machine in the waiting room and bought a large chocolate bar. In hailing it in less then a minute. When she finished, she felt limp and terrible. Sick to her stomach and disgusted that she through away twelve hours of starvation for a simple chocolate bar. She knew it would show up on the scale and Orochimaru would be even more furious then he already was with her current weight.

Before Orochimaru could say a word, Sakura had begun to remove her clothing. She figured it was only best to get it done fast.

"You're learning." Orochimaru said, pleased as he took a drink from his usual alchohal bottle. "What does it say?"

Sakura sucked on her lip as she stared at the numbers.

"Sakura...what does it say?"

"115." She blurted out.

"Had another girls-day-out, assume?" He snorted. "It just means we'll have to try harder now, doesn't it, Sakura?" He took a long drink. "Put your clothes back on and follow me. We're going to watch Sasuke model before your runway lessons."

She was confused, never had he demanded they watched Sasuke before. When they walked into the room where he was modeling, he showed no sign of care of even awareness that they arrived and carried smoothly on with his modeling like nothing had happened. Orochimaru demanded that she kept her eyes on Sasuke and focused on every little thing he did.

"Look at Sasuke, isn't he stunning?" Orochimaru said with lust in his voice as he watched Sasuke move to a different pose. "Watch how he works with the other models and props...he looks just..._stunning_."

Sakura's face formed into a disgusted look. It had taken her a while to notice, but Orochimaru had to be on the gay -- or at least bisexual -- side. The way he talks about Sasuke's looks had disturbed her so much, even though she was thinking things along the same lines.

"Just look how each photo he takes is useful, and there aren't any that are dull." Orochimaru's comments continued. "With each passing photo he looks more...stunning." Then, to Sakura's horror, Orochimaru licked his lips in a lustful way and continued to watch Sasuke. She shuddered in disturbment and tried her best to ignore Orochimaru. "Another wonderful thing about Sasuke..." he smiled as Sasuke picked up the next prop and began to model with it. "Is that he, unlike you, can listen orders..."

Sakura gave a small gasp.

"I saw you binging, Sakura...I can also smell the chocolate from your breath." He grabbed onto her shoulder and began to squeeze it tightly, causing her to wince. "You think you can hide these things from me? Why can't you just be more like Sasuke and the other models? So well behaved and able to follow orders? It would make things oh so much easier for you here..."

Sakura continued to wince with the pain of his nails being dug into her skin. "I-I couldn't hold it any longer...I had to...it won't happen again."

"You're a poor liar, Sakura...such a pity that with the Fashion Show only two weeks away you intened to gain more weight." His grip loosened that left a feeling of bruising. "I know you stole Miss Ama's drugs...why don't you use them more? The use of it will make your gluttony decrease."

And with that, he left Sakura to massage her freshly bruised shoulder.

* * *

Author's notes - I have just two comments to make in this chapter...1 - I could **care less** if you don't like Anko x Iruka and Rin x Kakashi. They are what I support_ proudly_ and if you have a problem with that please keep it to yourself. (I get it enough from my friend, I don't need it from my readers...sorry. So I really don't want to get a review saying how Kakashi and Anko are to be together or anything like that. I'm the author anyway...) 2 - I do support Ino x Shikamaru, I've only made it seem like Shikamaru's the 'time-killer' to add plot into this story. That's all. Sadly this chapter is just a little bit shorter then the last and I promise chapter eight (or nine...) will make up for that. 

Extra note - For chapter five I recieved a review on my story when the person wanted to point out that Sakura is going to get highly moody, very tired, and have no energy. Let it be cleared up that I _do_ know what happens to a person when they go under this and that I am highly aware of what they'll be doing when they develop an Eating Disorder. (I thought it would show considering this is my third story with an Eating Disorder.) I mean no offense or rudeness to the writer of that review, I simply just wanted to clear it up that I do have a strong idea of what's going on and going to happen to Sakura's body.

Thank you for reading.


	8. Dinner with Sasuke

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto...obviously...(If I did, would I honestly be writing fanfictions about it?)

Author's notes - Chapter eight. It took me forever to get this one done. It was impossible to think of any ideas and I needed some of our plot to happen. Thank you to _Crazed15yearold _though for the help she's been giving me throughout this story. Mainly a lot of the ideas come from her brilliant mind. (If you like Shikamaru x Ino or Hinata x Naruto, I suggest you go read her stories.) Oh, and thank you all _very_ much for giving me over 200 reviews for this story! I don't really care for getting reviews, but it means so much to me that you guys have given me 200! (Huggles all my readers/reviewers.) Oh and I don't know if any of you remember, but I brought up that Sakura would be in a fashion show...next chapter is the premire of it and the blossom of our lovely OTP!

* * *

Anko, the P.E. Sensei was a short, curvy and busty woman with a fiery attitude and a mouth to finish it all up. She was normally 'easy' on the students, but Kiba and Naruto decided to bring up the 'physical education' lesson she had with Iruka-Sensei on Monday and made the rest of the class pay by making them run laps for the rest of the lesson. Making Sakura hate P.E. a bit more then she already did. 

Ino, (who's hair had now been also cut to a legnth just a bit longer then Sakura's and was tied into a bun on the top of her head,) was less then impressed by running laps and agreed with Sakura that Naruto and Kiba should learn to keep their mouths shut on things that didn't include them._ Especially_ things that had to do with that. After their discussion on Naruto and Kiba, Ino moved it into her upcoming dates with Shikamaru, apparently she was going out with him this Friday for dinner. She also gave full details about how she went to _his_ house that weekend to study. Amazingly, she didn't ask how her day with Sasuke was, and Sakura was highly thankful for that. The only other couple she brought up was Anko-Sensei and Iruka-Sensei.

"They're cute together aren't they?" Ino asked, glancing back at Anko-Sensei who was yelling at Naruto for asking her a personal question.

"Very. Though I could do with the less-information about their sex life." Sakura shivered.

Ino laughed.

While changing out of their gym clothes and into their daily wear, Ino spotted the large bruise Orochimaru put on her. "Ew, Sakura!" She cried out, pointing to her shoulder and causing several heads to turn. "What's wrong with your shoulder? It's gross."

Sakura turned her head and looked down at her bruise. "Oh that...it's just a bruise. I was runway training when I fell and landed on my shoulder." She lied, the mark looked more like large circles in a circle which looked like it was obviously caused by a person digging their nails in, but Ino believed her.

"I was right, you are a clutz."

She rolled her eyes and finished getting dressed. Once finished, she and Ino headed off to their last lesson of the day, History with Yuhi Kurenai.

History was a fairly easy class compared to Anko's P.E. lessons. Currently they were learning about the Americans, which, to her, seemed like a boring country. They didn't have as many wonderful things as Japan did and their culture was a combination of several ethnic groups, it wasn't a bad thing, it was just along the lines of that it wasn't as interesting to learn as it was to learn about, unlike Spain and Russia.

When Sakura departed from Ino after school she saw a note from her parents saying that they were going to be out at a meeting and wouldn't be home till late. Her body gave a funny twitch, she'd finally be able to do what she wanted for so long. Running upstairs and locking the door, Sakura squealed with happiness. She had been longing to taste the cocaine once more and going almost an entire week without it was driving her slightly crazy. For each moment she didn't have the cocaine she could hear the last words Orochimaru told her; _Why don't you use them more? The use of it will make your gluttony decrease._

Knowing that it would make her 'gluttony decrease' excited Sakura, she was eating so much lately and instead of doing what Orochimaru wanted of losing weight by the middle of February, she had been gaining weight and was now 117lbs. She pulled out the bag from her box and grabbed a CD case for a base where the drugs would li. Sakura then pulled out a small straw she picked up at the school cafeteria and set it aside for when she was finished lining up the cocaine.

When everything was set up identical to the way she saw Tenten do it, Sakura took several deep breaths and began to taste the cocaine once more, enjoying every bitter second of what was happening and what was going to happen. She didn't care about anything at that moment. She could care less that Martial Arts started in ninety minutes, that if her parents found out they'd be furious, that Orochimaru would be furious with her after she later binged this week. Nothing mattered.

* * *

"Bring your shoulders back more. Good, don't flaunt out your chest too much...just like that--- perfect!" 

Sakura did every single thing she was told to do while preparing for the runway show that was only two weeks away. To Orochimaru, her runway skills were so poor that he insisted on her taking extra runway lessons to make sure she mastered it in the amount of time left. She couldn't understand what she was doing wrong. The runway instructors thought she was doing wonderful for a starter, the amount of time it took her to change her clothing was fast and at it's best, she never rushed it and never went to slow.

_"_Alright!" Her instructor said, clapping his hands together. "We're going to have another practice run. So go to the back, put on your first outfit on and we'll grade you from then on."

She did as she was told and took little time to prepare. When her instructor gave the word, Sakura walked out from behind the large curtain with a little bounce to her walk to represent what type of mood the outfit gave off. When she reached the end of the runway she posed twice, smiled, and turned around smoothly. Behind the curtain, she quickly changed into her second outfit and came out with a more elegant walk, she was careful not to trip on the gown and this time when she reached the end of the runway, she struck more elegant poses instead of cute and bubbly ones. Then, at the beginning of the runway, she struck one last elegant pose.

"Brilliant!" Cried out her instructor. "I've never seen a model progress so fast before. Orochimaru will be thrilled."

A large smile crossed Sakura's face and she excused herself to wander the agency for a while. Hoping to run into Tenten or Sasuke.

Wandering the agency was something Sakura had grown use to, and enjoyed doing it every time she was given the chance. She first went to Tenten's room, where she was lucky enough to find her sitting on her couch and reading a magazine that mentioned Tsunade's upcoming fashion show. Tenten seemed calm and it looked like a good time to apologize for the cocaine she stole.

"Tenten?" Sakura knocked on the door. "Can I come in?"

Tenten shook her head. "No, sorry. Neji's coming to get me for our date. He'll be here any minute."

"Oh, well then have fun."

"Sakura...you can keep the bag you took...I have a new one." Tenten quickly added as Sakura began to leave. "Just next time you want some, let me know." She said with a small laugh to lighten the moment.

Sakura laughed with Tenten. "Alright, and thank you."

It was a relief for her to find out Tenten was fine on sharing the cocaine. She had seen in several movies what happened when someone was accused or caught stealing drugs. Sakura laughed once more. _Like Tenten would honestly have someone come and kill me just because I took a small bag. _

The next room she went to was Sasukes. All the lights where off and it was hard for Sakura to see, but she able to make out that, like Tenten, he was sitting on his couch, only he was reading a thick book instead of a magazine.

"Hi, Sasuke." She chirped. "How are you?"

Sasuke didn't reply. He simply turned the page in his book and continued reading.

"Er...well...I'll see you tomorrow at school so we can go over our project once more. Iruka-Sensei will be pleased to know that we'll be one of the first groups to finish."

Sasuke turned the page as she closed the door to his room.

With no photoshoots for the next week due to increased runway lessons, Sakura became a little bored of wandering each room in the agency and finally left, making sure she was not caught by Orochimaru who would insist on weighing her now that she had some free-time. Her stomach growled with the pain of hunger and her mind began to debate on whether or not she should go out to get something to eat. She saw all the cons, which totaled into a long list, while the pros was a short list of three or four things. The thought of food made her mouth water and mind go crazy. Sakura ran to her car and drove to the nearest fastfood restaurant, breaking yet another fast

She inhaled her meal fast and quickly to the point where she was all of a sudden confused of where her meal went.

"Oh...my god..." Her lip quivered as she looked at the wrapper of the hamburger she had just binged on. She burst into tears and began to cry aloud, ignoring the people who stared at her with looks of disgust. "Why did I do that?" She screamed to her reflection in the car mirror. "Why? You can't keep yourself away from food for five minutes can you?!" Sakura punched her steering wheel and set off the car horn, following up by slamming her head onto the steering wheel and ignoring the blaring alarm.

Sakura stopped the alarm two minutes later when an elderly man said that it had been going for a while and it was bothering him. She wiped away her tears and took several deep breaths. She needed to focus on the goal - 100lbs. Sakura ran her fingers through her hair and sighed, it wasn't going to happen when Orochimaru wanted it. At the rate she was going, it wasn't even going to happen at all.

* * *

_How did I win the competition? There were so many girls at that agency who were much prettier, taller, and thinner then I. What was so special about me that made me win out of hundreds of girls? The judges had to see something that was so different about me that they were willing pay me to model for them..._Sakura thought as she walked through Konoha, watching the naturally thin people walk pass her with large smiles upon their faces. Sakura couldn't help but hate them for being so natural. 

"Pakkun! Stop!" A familiar voice cried out.

Sakura's eyes moved to the ground where a tiny Pug ran out from Sasuke's backyard and up to Sakura's legs, where the dog then began to lick at her calfs and jump up onto two legs to get her attention. "Hey, cutie." She said to the dog, bending down to scratch him behind the ears.

"Pakkun, how do you keep getting out? Kakashi! Pakkun got out again!" Rin cried, rushing over to Sakura and the dog named Pakkun. "I'm sorry. He's been so hyper-active lately." She said apologetically as she picked the small Pug up into her arms.

"It's alright, I don't mind." She smiled and made a cute face to Pakkun the Pug.

Rin gave the same smile she gave Sakura when she first met her. "You know, Sasuke just got home and Kakashi is cooking supper...maybe you'd like to come in and join us?"

Kakashi and Sasuke walked out from the backyard. Kakashi with his usual dazed look and slouchy position and Sasuke carrying his bored expression and his hands stuffed in his pockets.

_Cha! Dinner with Sasuke?! _Sakura blushed. "I don't know. I think I'd be a bother if I joined you. Besides, I'm sure my mother would want me home since it's getting late."

Kakashi came up behind Rin and scratched behind one of Pakkuns ears. "You can call her. Besides, I'm sure Sasuke will like to have company over for a change. You're the first person that's come over that goes to school with him." (Sasuke gave Kakashi a sharp glare.) "I hope you like Teriyaki pork bowls!"

_Teriyaki pork bowls? Pork! I-I can't eat pork, Orochimaru will have a fit! _"Sure!" She said smiling. "I'll join you."

Dinner with Sasuke's 'family' was awkward. Even though they had such a big house and a big kitchen that made any housewife happy. It was rather, well, _empty_. Their fridge was nearly empty, only a carton of milk, some cheese, and several bags of salads claimed it. Their cupboards had only a few minor cooking spices and one box of cereal. Sakura was slightly jealous that Kakashi's house had little to no food. And as if their kitchen wasn't weird enough, dinner conversations only added on.

"You know, Sakura." Kakashi said, handing her a bowl of Teriyaki pork. "Sasuke tells me that _you're_ the only girl he likes shooting with."

Sakura's jaw dropped. Uchiha Sasuke enjoyed shooting with _her_ out of all the other girls he had modeled with?!

Sasuke gave Kakashi another glare and then muttered what sounded like the word _'Idiot_' to him before returning to his Teriyaki bowl.

Through the rest of dinner, the only conversation that went on was Rin asking Kakashi how his day at work was. Apparently, it was boring and Kakashi wished he worked with smart people for a change. When dinner ended, Rin pulled out a small cheese cake she had prepared earlier that day and while they ate their dessert, the conversation was finally moved to Sasuke and Sakura.

"So, who is your agent, Sakura?" Kakashi asked, scratching off a little bit of Teriyaki sauce that fell onto the table.

"Mikatochi Orochimaru."

Kakashi raised his only visible eyebrow. "Mikatochi eh? He was Sasuke's agent for a couple years...He's an interesting character."

Sakura glanced over to Sasuke, who was scrapping the top part of his cheese cake off and leaving only the crumb base left. "I had no idea."

"Before the family incident, Sasuke was Orochimaru's pride and joy in the modeling world." Kakashi started as soon as Rin sat down to eat her own cheese cake slice. "Sasuke had started modeling when he was seven and was the highest paid male model the industry ever had within a year and a half of modeling. Orochimaru claimed that Sasuke was his greatest model yet and treated him with high respect even though he was so many years older then Sasuke."

"Wow, amazing! What happened?"

Kakashi took a large bite of cheese cake. "When Sasuke's family incident happened three years ago, he left the agency in distress. Orochimaru wasn't thrilled of course and snapped at Sasuke."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Snapped at Sasuke? What did he say? I've seen them talking before and they seemed to be getting along pretty well." Her eyes shifted to Sasuke then back to Kakashi and Rin.

"He just threatened him...Sasuke never did tell me exactly what he said." Kakashi shrugged and took another bite of Rin's cheese cake.

"Oh..." Sakura glanced down at her empty plate. She was then filled with regret on agreeing to come eat with Sasuke. "Can I use your restroom?"

Kakashi nodded and told her where it was. As Sakura excused herself from the table, she only hoped that Rin had a scale and kept it in the main bathroom. She needed to know how much weight she put on through her binge and little supper with Sasuke. Praying to herself that it would only be a small number and that she hadn't put on anything more then three pounds. She was lucky enough to find one beside the sink and quickly removed her clothing. "115lbs..._still?!_" The weight she would gain from her binge had not yet pilled on her body and it frusturated her. Sakura gave out a small cry as she quickly put her clothing back on and rushed downstairs to continue her time with Sasuke, acting as if she never weighed herself.

"It was nice having you over for dinner, Sakura." Rin said, resting her head upon Kakashi's shoulder.

Sakura smiled. "It was nice to be over. I think I should go home, it's getting a little late and I have some things going on tomorrow." She stood up from the table and placed her dishes in the sink. "Dinner was wonderful." She added as a quick lie.

"Sasuke..." Kakashi said, his head now on Rin's. "Why don't you walk your girlfriend home? It's late and there might be someone who wants to hurt her, you wouldn't want that would you? Oh, and take Pakkun with you!"

Sasuke shot Kakashi yet another nasty glare and grabbed his coat. "Come on..." He muttered, opening the door for her.

She enjoyed Sasuke's company as she made her way home with him. Even if they didn't speak a word to each other until they were halfway to her house. In which, Sakura asked if he was excited to be in the upcoming fashion show.

"Not really..." He replied softly.

"Not really? Have you just lost all excitement for them or do you just not want to do it?"

"I just don't want to do it."

Sakura frowned. "Why not?"

"I've lost all feeling of excitement for them." He said dully, almost as if he was talking to a brick wall.

"How did you feel before your first show?" She asked curiously.

"I don't know. Excited, I suppose."

"You suppose?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"Hn...is this your house?" He pointed to the small white home she lived.

Sakura bit her lip. She didn't want her walk with Sasuke to be over, it was too soon. "Yes...thank you for walking me home."

"Hn...welcome..."

"I'll see you tomorrow at school." She added as he began to walk away.

"Hn..." Sasuke said, walking away with Pakkun following at his heels.

Sakura shut the door and smiled. That was the most amount of words she had ever heard Sasuke say in a day and was thrilled because of so.

* * *

Author's notes - Yes...from this chapter on it'll be a lot more drug use and self-hatred...I'm finally starting to give you Anorexic Sakura, which I've seen ton of you begging for, lol. These things actually do take a lot of time and they don't just start over night. Really she's more EDNOS at the time...I apologize for the short chapter too! (I don't think anyone really paid attention to the way Sasuke eats his cheese cake...lol...but I love it when people do that!) 

Thank you for reading.

**'Special for giving me over 200 reviews, a sneak peak of chapter nine;**

Sasuke looked back at Rin and Kakashi who still wore confused faces. "Come with us...I'll explain it to you later." He pulled on Sakura to follow and they rushed to their car and told her to get in and that he'd take her to the hotel where they were staying until her parents came back from their meeting. Rin sat in the backseat with Sasuke and Sakura, and rubbed Sakura's shoulder to calm her down, telling her everything was going to be alright while she explained the horror that had just been upon her. Hyperventilating and shivering from the cool air and experience.

"Here...you look cold." Sasuke took off his shirt and handed it to Sakura.

Sakura took his shirt and slipped it over her head. "Thank you, Sasuke..." She choked out in between tears before returning to her story.

Hm, I wonder what happened that made Sakura so scared...!


	9. Orochimaru's Attempt

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto

Author's notes - Here's chapter nine. Which will have the very start of Sasuke and Sakura's relationship. Oh - quick note. I'm not really into gay pairings at all, but in this chapter there is some highly one-sided Orochimaru x Sasuke...(Shrugs) He's Bisexual, I have to even it out. Hate me if you must for making Orochimaru hit on our poor (not so innocent) Sasuke. It killed me to write it...poor Sasuke.

* * *

Over the next two weeks, Sakura's daily lifestyle continued. She got up, went to school, came home, and depending on what night it was, studied, went to train, or went to model. On days where she had extra time in her night, she would do a small work-out in her room that was silent but harsh on burning fat. With all that going on her life became frustrating with each day that went by and was always thankful when it was Sunday, where she was then able to rest for at least twenty-four hours before having to get up and do it all again. The fashion show was this Saturday and it was only Thursday night. She had to encounter one more day of hell before walking. She didn't know if she could handle it. 

"I can't do this." She told her ceiling as she fell backwards onto her bed. "I can't do everything they need me to do..."

So far on her list of things to do she had only completed half of one. Her weight was down to 107lbs and Orochimaru was satisfied with her for now. Her list concluded of things that wouldn't be achieved until she graduated or died, there was no way she could live this any longer. Sakrua grabbed her pillow, groaned, and smashed the pillow into her face to make the frustration go away.

Cocaine.

Sakura shot up from her bed and sent her pillow flying across her room. She needed a little bit of rest and wanted to make things disappear; cocaine was the perfect thing for the job. She hadn't used it since last Sunday and it was making her itch not being able to do them. Sakura pulled out the bag, her straws, and her same CD case that she always used. She moved the items to her closet where she then began to snort up the lines of cocaine. In no time she was knocked out by it's strong power and fell asleep in her closet.

When she awoke several hours later, Sakura ditizly walked out of her closet and plopped her body onto her bed. She had her body functioning enough to know if she played ill she'd be able to stay home today and get the extra rest she needed for the fashion show the following day. To her luck, her mother bought it and waited on Sakura for the entire day, in hopes that she'd feel better in time for fashion show.

"You must be nervous." Her mother said, bringing Sakura a bowl of soup. "Eat up and the weird feeling will go away."

When her mother left, Sakura, now feeling much better, jumped up and poured the soup down her bathroom toilet. "I may be feeling ill about tomorrow night, but I'm not going to throw my hard work away on a simple hundred calorie bowl of soup!"

A few hours later, to her surprise, Ino was nice enough to stop by after school with her makeup work and the grade she and Sasuke were given on their drug-project. (A+.)

"So is your weird bruise gone yet?" Ino asked, pulling up a chair to sit next to her in.

"It's almost gone, it just looks like my skin was stained my drops of grape juice."

"Too-bad it isn't gone. For that fashion show tomorrow night I heard that we will be wearing elegant evening gowns, which show off your shoulders." Ino said, shrugging.

"You know, they have makeup to cover things like that up." Sakura snapped at her, growing frustrated once more.  
"Hm...so then what's up with your dilated pupils?" She pointed to Sakura's eyes and let out a small giggle. "They look really dorky like that."

Sakura frowned and said it was just because she was ill.

Ino shrugged again and then for some reason beyond Sakura's knowledge began to talk about Shikamaru. Oh how lovely Shikamaru was when he did this or that. How smart Shikamaru was in Language today when he got the question right. And how cute Shikamaru was when he fell asleep in class again today. It seemed to Sakura that she had all of a sudden lost her interest in Sasuke, but denied so when she asked. After a three-hour-visit from Ino, she finally left and promised that she'd be back on Sunday to talk about the fashion show with her. Sakura groaned when Ino left. Sunday was her day of rest, and it was something she was longing for even though she already had this Friday off thanks to her drugs.

Since Sakura was feeling much better in the evening her mother suggested she went to training just to get some of the stress and nerves of the fashion show off. She was highly grateful she went, as soon as she arrived, Lee had informed her that they were going to start her on something called a 'Form' which he described as a dance only with blocks, kicks, and different hand-techniques. Sakura was highly eager for this 'Form' and took no heed to pay close attention to the instructions Gai-Sensei gave her. After several attempts to put together the first ten moves, Gai paired Sakura up with a female student with long hair that fell to her ankles for self-defense. There, she and the girl named Kin where to take turns practicing a self-defense that protected yourself from the common wrist-grab. Several times, she felt like Kin purposely grabbed her wrist to hard just so she'd look better. Lee had warned her about rivalry among students, but she couldn't come to mind the thought of Kin wanting to rival against her who was a mere white belt. Perhaps it was because Kin and Sakura were the only women in the school.

After practice, Sakura came home only wanting to take a shower and go to sleep. The day ahead of her was going to be long and she wanted to get all the sleep she could before hand. Her mother gave her a quick message from Tenten reminding Sakura that were was going to be a small party before the show where'd they'd be able to spend some time talking and catching up, and then another party after the show where refreshments would be and they'd celebrate having their first show of the year. As Sakura showered, her fears of the show melted away and she began to look forward to the show and it's parties.

* * *

"So, how many people are coming just to see you?" Ino asked as they drove up together to Kyoshi for the show. 

"Just my parents from what I know of...they're only able to see the show. They have a business meeting right after."

Ino smirked. "Really? Only your parents? I'm having my entire family come, as well some of our friends. Naruto, Chouji, Hinata, Shino, Kiba...oh, and even Shikamaru said he'd come to watch me!"

"Great, I bet you're excited." She said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

"I am!"

The girls pulled into the packed parking lot of the 'Kyoshi Music Arena' at three and headed to the main room of the building, where several models, parents, and agents were busy in deep conversations drinking various drinks. Sakura quickly scanned the room to find a familiar face. In one corner, in her usual Goth-boy pants, corset tops, many wristbands, heavy necklaces, and thick eyeliner Temari stood next to another Gothic model and had her same usual look of irritation on her face. By the large window were Tenten and Neji. Tenten chatted happily to Neji, taking a few drinks in between words to catch her breath. In another corner was Sasuke. He was like Temari, silent and looking irritated. He wasn't drinking anything and seemed to be alone for now. To her luck, there was no trace of Orochimaru yet.

Ino completely missed Sasuke and rushed over to join a few models from the Suna agency, giving Sakura a small chance to be with Sasuke.

"Hello, Sasuke." Sakura chirped.

"Hn..."

Sakura leaned her body on the same wall Sasuke had his on. "How many shows have you been in so far?"

"Fifteen." He said flatly.

Her eyes grew, though fifteen wasn't that many, she was still impressed. "Wow. So, this must be pretty simple for you now?"

"Hn..."

"Are Kakashi and Rin here?"

"Not at the moment. They went out for a late lunch...they'll be back before the show starts."

To Sakura's luck, Orochimaru walked through the door with a familiar brand of alcohol in his hands. It was obvious he was going to start drinking in no time and he'd demand to weigh her before the show. It'd all end up with him yelling at her and demanding she lost a certain amount of weight before yet another certain date. Even though she was use to this date-setting and she found it highly helpful to stay motivated, Sakura dreaded it.

"Sasuke...Sakura..." Orochimaru walked over to them and opened his bottle.

"Orochimaru." They both replied in different tones of voice.

He took a long heavy drink of alcohol. "Sasuke...," he said pulling the bottle away, "you look so _good_ today. And, Sakura, I need to speak with you for a brief moment, and don't worry Sasuke, I'll be right back."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he turned his head away with annoyance. "Annoying..." He muttered.

With hesitation, Sakura followed Orochimaru down the hall to the women's bathroom. He opened the door where the usual white scale sat in the middle of the floor. They both walked in and Orochimaru turned the lock to keep their privacy. He didn't need to tell her once more to remove her clothing, it was almost all off when he turned back around.

"Good girl. You're learning to listen and behave...what does it say?"

Sakura didn't reply and glanced to the mirrors beside her. She took a deep breath as she focused on her thighs. They were disgusting, large curved thighs which showed she had eaten a lot of fattening foods and hardly worked out, even if she was attending lessons.

"Sakura, what does it say?!" Orochimaru snapped at her.

"106."

He smiled and walked up to her, running his long fingers up and down her large arms. "Very good...just drop six more and I'll be so thrilled with you for reaching your first goal weight." His mouth was close to her face again and she had a feeling that he was snaking his arms around her entire body when it was only her arms. "I can tell you've been using the cocaine too...such a good little girl you're becoming, Sakura."

"Thank you." She whispered.

Orochimaru brought the bottle by Sakura's face and took a long sip, when he brought it down it let out small gasp of satisfaction. "Come Sakura, our Sasuke is waiting."

Buttoning up her shirt, Sakura headed to the main room, there, she found a horror site of Orochimaru flirting with Sasuke. He moved closer and more around him each time Sasuke denied or ignored him, making comments about how good he was looking tonight or how he didn't care if the room was full of people, he wanted to do disturbing things to him. It surprised Sakura on how well he handled. Orochimaru being drunk.

Nintey minutes later, Sakura and the other models moved to another room. There they were quickly stripped from their clothing and put into different outfits while one person did their hair and another two did makeup. Her first outfit was a beautiful red silk kimono that was recently designed by Tsunade. She looked around and saw Tenten in a deep blue one, Temari in a black kimono, and Ino a light purple. She waved to the girls, though it was unnoticed through the large crowed of models and makeup artists. No where in the area did she find Sasuke and wondered if he was going to be in this first part of the show at all.

Soon, music began to play and the first model made her way out, when a signal was given another model followed. Sakura's heart was pounding, she was next, all what was needed to be given was the signal.

"Sakura, go!"

_You can do this, Sakura...it's what you've been training for._ Calmly and perfectly paced, Sakura made her way out onto the runway. The whole time, she kept her eyes forward and didn't dare look around to see the media and group of people she knew from school. At first she felt nervous, what if she fell? Everyone would see, yet, halfway down the runway her spirit was lifted and the rest of the walk was stronger and more confident. She placed her hands on her hips when she reached the end and struck two small poses before turning around and repeating what she did on her way down.

When she turned the corner from the runway and was out of the view, she rushed down to where other models began to put on their second outfit. As she did so, they quickly began to change her hairstyle to match her Valentine's Day themed outfit. Not yet, had she found Sasuke. Most of the girls were back now and it was possible that they switched between girls and boys in between clothing changes. When they lined Sakura up again, Ino was right behind her.

"Where you nervous when you first went up?" Sakura asked, taking a step forward after another model went out.

"Of course not! I had the walk down perfectly and I was obviously the best one on the runway." Ino smiled proudly.

"I was a little nervous at first" -- she took another step forward -- "but when I was about halfway through the runway, I realized how good I was doing."

"Go, Sakura." The man who was giving out the signals for the models called.

Sakura did as she was told and walked down the runway with a slight bounce and happy expression across her face. She was trained to work emotions with the themed outfit, and was doing her best to take the training to good use. Making her way back, she made small eye contact with Ino and smiled, Ino didn't return the smile and kept walking at her own fast pace.

For her third and final outfit, they placed Sakura in a long black gown and tied her hair into a bun to give it a much more mature look. When she went out onto the runway she gave the 'elegant walk' and struck very deep and seductive poses without looking like she was desperate. The final walk then took place after the men did their route of suites and were line up as boy, girl, boy, girl. Sakura's mood grew happier when she found out she was right behind Sasuke. She'd be able to walk right behind him for the final walk where every model would be scene, and possibly someone would take a picture with her next to Sasuke. Though the chance was slim, due to the amount of models there where, Sakura kept her hopes up. After she finished her final walk, the models crowded at the start of the runway and clapped fiercefully as Tsunade made her way infront of them.

"First off, I'd like to thank all of you for being here for making our first show of the year such a success!" Tsunade clasped her hands together. "I'd also like you to give a round of applause for these five lucky ladies who won in the modeling competition I held in November..." The first three girls that were called stepped up next to Tsunade and clapped as another was called. "...Sendok Temari...and Haruno Sakura."

Sakura stepped forward and clapped her hands, even though she was the last girl to be called.

After Tsunade excused them when their loud applause had finished, the girls stepped and Tsunade continued with her little talk. Mentioning once again how thankful she was for everyone hitting the show off, she then thanked a few more people for letting her set up here and other assorted things like that. When she finished, she gave a low bow and left the stage with the models.

"Sakura, you're coming to the after party, right?" Tenten called out, pushing through a few other models.

"Oh, of course. I'm just going to go. I want to change first, I'll meet you there." She waved back and struggled to get through the other models just to go to the bathroom. Luckily, she kept her clothes in a bag and unlike some of the models, she didn't have to go very far to get her clothing back. Allowing her to be the first of four to get the bathroom. Sakura was slow when she changed her clothing this time, the fashion show repeted through her mind. She was happy with how well she was, and she knew Orochimaru would be too. It was going to be a good night.

Sakura heard the three other girls leave the bathroom and then one more entered. She heard the door lock, obviously this model wanted privacy. Her footsteps were heavy and from the space at the bottom of her cell, she saw the girl coming closer. Sakura quickly slipped on her shirt and began to button it up, possibly the girl was one who wanted as much space as she could get.

"You were lovely tonight, Sakura."

Her eyes grew wide and she turned around to see who was behind the door. When she opened it Orochimaru stood in front of her with one of his disturbing smiles. "Orochimaru," she gasped out, "you scared me."

"You were lovely tonight, Sakura." He repeated, taking a step closer.

Sakura bunched the top of her shirt to cover up the large amount of skin that was left and returned a small smile. "Thank you."

He continued to walk up to her until she was up against the wall. His smile grew as he reached up to caress one of her cheeks. "Sakura...if you lost a bit more weight, I'd be able to call you beautiful..." His free hand reached up and began pull some hair away from her face. "For now, I suppose lovely will have to do..." His face leaned closer to hers and moved in for a kiss.

"Don't touch me." She cried, turning her head to the side to avoid this.

"You can't get away from me, Sakura...no one ever can." One of his hands grabbed her by the wrist and pinned it against the wall. The other hand that grabbed her free wrist, pinned it up by her head and his hips were pushed against hers. "Fighting will make me hold on tighter." He hissed at her, squeezing her wrists.

"Let go!" She screamed, tears began to pool at her the rim of her eyes.

"Stop resisting." He hissed once more and pushed his hips harder against hers as he began to move in for more kisses.

Her tears streamed from her eyes and she continued to cry. "No! I won't let you do this to me!" With all the strength she could gather, Sakura brought up her knee and hit Orochimaru in the crotch. To her great luck, Orochimaru let go and dropped down in pain, tearing her shirt as he went down. Sakura didn't take heed, she jumped over Orochimaru in the tiny cell and rushed to the door, she quickly unlocked it and ran down the hall, caring less that she was only in a bra. She needed to find a phone, and quick too. She had to report this bastard for what he just did. Her legs felt heavy as she continued to run through the building, unlike the agency, she didn't know the layout of this building and finding a room to hide in was going to be hard. Luck hit her once more when she spotted Sasuke a few feet in front of her, and without any second thoughts, she ran into his arms and buried her face into his warm body.

"Sakura!" Sasuke said in surprise.

"Sasuke! He...tried to...he was going to...oh, god!" She clutched his shirt in her fists and more tears began to spill.

"Calm down, Sakura. Who was trying to do what to you?"

"Orochimaru!" She screeched, ignoring Rin and Kakashi's confused faces. "He was...please, we need to get a phone and call the police!"

"No, Sakura."

Her eyes grew. "What?"

"We can't call him in..." Sasuke whispered in a highly calm voice.

"Why not?!"

Sasuke looked back at Rin and Kakashi who still wore confused faces. "Come with us...I'll explain it to you later." He pulled on Sakura to follow and they rushed to their car and told her to get in and that he'd take her to the hotel where they were staying until her parents came back from their meeting. Rin sat in the backseat with Sasuke and Sakura, and rubbed Sakura's shoulder to calm her down, telling her everything was going to be alright while she explained the horror that had just been upon her. Hyperventilating and shivering from the cool air and experience.

"Here...you look cold." Sasuke took off his shirt and handed it to Sakura.

Sakura took his shirt and slipped it over her head. "Thank you, Sasuke..." She choked out in between tears before returning to her story.

* * *

Author's notes - (Laughs nervously) Well, I'm sure chapter nine was a jaw-dropper for a few of you...I obviously don't know much about models, so I took a good guess at the fashion show. The one fashion show I've been in was a really hectic and I didn't want to write about Sakura not being able to find someone to zip the back of her dress up, lol. Hopefully it was enough to make this chapter work. Now, I do know that because Orochimaru was hitting on her in that way, that the proper thing to do would be to call the police, but from my poor information, they don't actually report them most of the time...Er...look on the bright side...it's going to mean more SasukexSakura from now on. 

Thank you for reading.

(I just realized how evil I am! Sakura had attempted-rape just before her birthday!)


	10. Fame and Recovery

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Author's notes - I apologize deeply _before_ it happens; my lack of updating due to my attempt from trying to move without our house being completely built. Because of that I'm with my Grandparents and their computer is a little on the slow side, a well from the fact to that I can only go on for a short period of time. (It's a good thing I wrote these chapters prehand...) Anyway, I'm also a little sorry if I freaked you out with Orochimaru's little hit-on...I've never had anything like that happen to me, but I've scene the movies...even if it's not the same thing.

* * *

Time stood still for Sakura as she finished up the last of her horrifying event. Was it later then she thought it was or was time really standing still? Did she look like she was overreacting for something that was mild compared to what he could have done to her? What did Sasuke think? What would her parents think? Would she even tell them, if not what about Ino? Was she to know about what happened or would she simply laugh and comment on how desperate she was for attention or would she feel her sorry for her? Her hardest question was wondering if she'd ever return to the agency. She was only a model for a small two and a half months and already she was thinking about quitting for something that happened everyday. Throwing away all of her hard work would make her seem weak... 

"Sorry, Sakura." Kakashi turned and pulled into a gas station. "We just need to top off...Rin, come with me please."

Rin nodded and gently let go of Sakura and followed Kakashi to the pump. Leaving her alone with Sasuke now.

Sakura brought up her middle finger and wiped the tears away from both of her eyes, making of tear drops on the side of her face. "Why can't I call him in?" She whispered in an angry and scared tone. "Is it because he's so famous and well known that I can't call him in?"

"No." He seemed to show little emotion in the event of what happened to her and the fact that he was shirtless in front of her.

"Please tell me why...Sasuke..." Tears re-formed in her eyes and she brought her legs up to her chest. It was a highly uncomfortable position in the car, but she didn't care.

Sasuke himself looked scared for a moment. "I...know what you're going through..." He finally said, looking down at Kakashi's clean car floor. "The same happened to me...after I first joined."

She gasped and the little color that was left in her face disappeared. If he had tried to do the same to Sasuke, then why wasn't she allowed to call him in? "Did you report him?" She asked, lowering her head into the wide collar of the shirt just in case he began to snap at her.

"No."

"Why not? Sasuke, what Orochimaru has done to us both is wrong...even if it's---"

"I know that." He shot at her. "You really know nothing about him do you? Do you remember the model Tayuya from five years ago?"

She nodded. "She was murdered wasn't she, in the parents waiting room, right?"

"While trying to report Orochimaru for sexual harassment." Sasuke finished for her and ignored Sakura's large eyes and second gasp of the night. "Yes, he killed her for trying to report him...she was only able to explain that she was a model and that her agent had forced himself on her. He came in and killed her then."

Her body shook with fear. "Sasuke, how do you know all of this?"

"Because..." He looked out the window and saw that Kakashi and Rin still were not back. "I was there to witness it."

"Sasuke..." Sakura slid her body closer to his with much care. "Is that why he...?"

"Possibly...what the---?"

Sakura's arms were wrapped around his neck and she buried her face into his chilled skin, her tears warming it up. "I'm so sorry." She breathed out as she kept a fair distance away from him without looking desperate or like she had made it all up to only be this close to him. "We'll get him someday for it...I promise."

At the hotel were Sasuke was staying, Sakura was treated with much care until her parents finished up. It was only eight thirty and their meeting went until eleven. She left a small whispered message on their cell saying that she was with some model friends who didn't want to leave her alone and that they should call Room 227 if they wanted to get her. After she hung up the phone, Rin gave Sakura one of her own shirts which was a much better fit and was very beautiful, but she preferred Sasuke's baggy blue one. She laid in the bed were Sasuke would be sleeping and only moved her eyes when she was asked something. Her legs were brought up to her chest and she held her body tightly. She was growing tired and wanted to rest, yet the fear of Orochimaru coming back to finish the job or even kill her crossed her mind and was possibly the reason of why she was not yet asleep.

Once more, Kakashi and Rin left her and Sasuke alone to 'pick up supper' as they claimed.

"Sasuke...?" Sakura finally spoke.

"Hn?"

"Thank you for bringing me with you...giving me your shirt and letting me stay on your bed while my parents are out...he probably would have caught up with me if it wasn't for you." She said poetically.

"Hn..."

"If I hadn't kneed him in the...area...he probably would have succeeded."

Sasuke gave a stiffed laugh and smirked. Amused by Sakura's attack to escape.

"How did you get away?" She loosened her body and sat up, supporting her upper half by her arms. "I'm sure he didn't even get very far..."

"I punched him in the face." Sasuke said flatly. "I'd also rather not talk about it."

Sakura bit her lip and laid back down on the bed. "I understand..."

* * *

Sakura spent most of Sunday in her bed. When her parents told her how proud they were of her and she was growing up so fast. She didn't feel like talking about the show though, she felt ill and dirty. Arriving home at two in the morning, Sakura sat in the shower for another hour while the hot water beat upon her body. She lathered up in soap and rinsed repeatedly but the feeling of Orochimaru's skin touching her own remained. 

Ino had called earlier that morning to give Sakura a warning that she would be coming around noon-ish after she was done visiting Shikamaru. She spoke in her usual pride-filled voice and didn't question her on why she sounded so depressed. Her visit with Ino seemed to take forever. Most of the the visit concluded of Ino bragging about herself and how proud everyone was of her at the show the other night. Ino seemed highly oblivious to Sakura's pain.

"So, what did you do after the show?" Ino finally asked after she had finished talking repeditly about herself.

"I...hung out with Sasuke for a little while."

Ino twitched. "Oh, you did?"

She nodded. "Yes...we just watched a bit of t.v. and chatted a little bit about...life."

"He mentioned me though, didn't he?"

"No...we didn't talk about you. We just talked about ourselves."

Ino frowned and crossed her arms. "You shouldn't act so conceited."

"I'll keep that in mind..." She replied with a bitter tone.

Ino smiled and reached into a bag that she brought with her and pulled out a large pink lunch box. "Here, my mom made this for you as a congratulations box for your fashion show the other night. It's just full of sweets mainly...you know my mom." She tossed the box to Sakura and pulled out a large purple box. "I decided that we should get glammed up for tomorrow when we go back to school...so why don't we paint our nails, have a sleep over and do our hair and makeup together tomorrow?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. It was odd to see Ino in such a caring mood, but she was happy because of that. After the night before, she needed something to make her happy.

Ino shook several different bottles of nail polish and set them on her desk along with a file and nail clippers. She pulled out a deep shade of purple for herself and then a variety of bright colors for Sakura to take her pick (peachy-pink) and then pulled out a few more items for their feet. She was now grateful that Ino came over, it was the one thing that lightened her thoughts of Orochimaru. As they worked on each others hands and feet little words were exchanged between the two until Sakura pulled her hands away in fear as arm brushed against her leg as she went down.

"What? I barely touched you."

"Sorry. It just startled me." She stuttered, going back to work on Ino's feet.

"You seem so jumpy today. Did something happen the other night that freaked you out?" Ino shook a bottle of lotion to get the little amount left to the tip.

"No. What makes you say that? Nothing happened." Sakura said a little to fast, accidently messing up the nail polish on Ino's big-toe.

"I was just curious." Ino set down the bottle. "You're so jumpy."

After their nails had dried and the girls had changed into their pajamas they placed a movie into Sakura's t.v. It was the usual chick flick they both watched together whenever they were together. A simple man and a simple woman fall in love, but a war interferes with their love and they are separated. In the end one of them ended up dying and both girls had their faces covered in tears. They would then cry and go on about how romantic the movie was and that it was so good, even if it was their hundredth time seeing it. It was late by the time the movie had ended and the girls did a little bit of chit-chat afterwards before falling asleep.

Sakura smiled in her sleep. Her thoughts were almost over Orochimaru and the horrifying incident. Almost over wasn't the same as being fully over though.

In her dream, it was as vivid as it was in reality. She was back in the bathroom stall with Orochimaru's hips pressed firmly against her own. His arms still captured her wrists and she was unable to make a sound our lift up her legs from the increased amount of pressure. She cried and screamed for him to stop even though it was useless. He wouldn't stop even if he could hear her. He whispered words in her ear that made her want to die and as he began to work his way with kisses all over her lips and neck she continued to cry out for him to stop. Why couldn't she speak? Why was this happening to her again?!

"Sakura?!" Ino shook her furiously, trying to wake her up from her horrifying nightmare.

"Get off of---Ino!" She cried and wrapped her arms around her friends body and sobbed into her pajamas.

"What the hell were you dreaming about?" Ino said with slight disgust of Sakura's tears soaking through her clothes.

"It was a terrible dream." She finally said in-between hiccups. "That's all. Just a bad dream...sorry I overacted on it."

Ino cocked an eyebrow and pulled away from Sakura. "Right...maybe the violence in that movie just got to your head."

"Yeah...that was it." She mumbled. _I can't keep this in anymore...I need to report him for what he did. No one should get away with this. I'd rather die then have him touch another model!_

The next morning (after Ino and Sakura had worked carefully on each others hair and makeup) the girls rushed off to school without any breakfast. After quickly catching site of Shikamaru, Sakura pushed Ino over to his desk and made sure they were in a deep conversation before rushing over to Sasuke's desk.

"Sasuke..." Sakura said in a low-whisper. "I can't keep it a secret...I have to tell someone."

"You can't!" He hissed.

"I had a dream that he was..._kissing_ me in the exact same stall!" She hissed back.

Sasuke's eyes twitched. "You'll learn to deal with it, Sakura."

Tears fell onto his desk as she began to cry. "I can't just 'deal with it'...Sasuke the man is a _Bisexual pedophile_!"

"I'll protect you from him."

She blinked and more tears fell onto his desk. "What?"

"I said I'll protect you from him." He repeated, slightly annoyed.

"H-how?"

Sasuke's eyes darted to Ino, then to Iruka-Sensei who just walked in through the door. "Trust me."

* * *

Sakura walked into the agencies front doors and felt numb. Orochimaru would want to weigh her now and after Saturday night, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to do it. The thought of her removing her clothing so he could weigh her, made her sick to her stomach. What if he took advantage of that and tried to force himself on her again? Sakura's appetite had disappeared. The shock of Orochimaru was that impacting that she couldn't dare touch food. It would probably be the only ever time where she would thank him she was able to miss two days of food and having one night of cocaine earlier made things fall finally into place. 

"I haven't seen you in days!" Tenten's friendly voice called out from a fair distance.

"Sorry. I've been busy."

"You weren't even at the after-show party. It was slightly a good thing...Ino got...well I'm not going to say it. I'm just happy you're back. And you look so thin too, hitting the gym a lot I suppose?"

Sakura gave a weak smile. "Thanks..."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I've just been busy." Sakura gave out a fake laugh. "I swear, I'll make up missing the party to you later, alright?" She parted herself from Tenten. "Orochimaru probably wants to see me now, so I'll catch up with you soon."

When she walked into the usual room, she saw everything seemed to appear normal. The scale in front of the mirror, mountains of makeup, racks and racks of clothing, and Orochimaru sitting in a large comfortable chair with a highly pissed look on his face. "Get on the scale." He snapped at her quickly

She jumped and quickly removed her clothes and stepped onto the scale. Her hunger and fear were catching up to her as he walked over. Her stomach whined for food as he circled around her body and demanded she ready off the weight.

"104."

He stopped in front of her and gave her a sweet smile. "Good girl...you'll be perfect soon. Just a few more pounds...and then we'll work to your next goal to make you even better." His smile then vanished as soon at it had appeared and he stuck her across the face, sending her to topple backwards and fall onto her bottom. "I know you didn't tell anyone, Sakura...that was for the pain in my crotch you caused me."

Sakura pursed her lips together and curled her body into a small ball. "I..I'm sorry."

Orochimaru's smile returned, as well his disturbingly cheerful voice. "I know you are. Now get out...you have a photoshoot in a couple of minutes."

She quickly put on her clothing and ran to the only room where they were still setting up for the shoot. Jiraiya was setting up his camera's, a few other workers were setting up a green screen and there were several different outfits to choose from.

"What's the theme?" She asked Jiraiya.

"Are you serious? Haven't you read the papers yet?...What happened to your face?" He replied, puzzled.

"Nothing -- no, why?"

Jiraiya smiled. "Sakura, you're the latest craz. Everyone thought you were so beautiful and talented that you're on the cover of nearly every magazine and newspaper."

Her jaw dropped. "So I'm doing an editorial?!"

He nodded and she gasped with joy. She didn't need orders from anyone this time, by the time Orochimaru came into the room to guide her, she was working on her second outfit -- this one being a crimson gown while her first was a sexy top and jeans -- he didn't look to thrilled that in nearly everyone of her shots she was smiling with joy or showing some hint of happiness when the shots were to be serious or more lustful. She tried the best she could to avoid screaming out how happy she was, how suddenly her mood had changed because of a simple paper. After doing ten different photoshoots, Sakura was interviewed by three different magazines, including her favorite title. Most of the questions were about her life before the modeling, what it was like now, and random boring questions like that. They asked her about her favorite movies, books, and actors and promised her that the interview and photos would be printed in the March issue.

After she had finished with the interviewers, Sakura changed back into her regular clothing and after chatting with Tenten for an hour or so, she began to head home hoping the chocolate bar in her purse would go unseen.

"Sakura...come here."

Chills danced up her spin as she turned around. Orochimaru stood in the doorway to her room and motioned for her to come. She did as she was told and had her fist ready to attack if he tried to touch her again.

"You know now that you're going to be famous very soon." -- Sakura backed up a bit -- "And what does society want? A beautiful and _skinny_ idol to look up to. So, if I were you...I'd throw the chocolate away and do the best I could to look nice for a change."

She nodded and kept her eyes focused to the mirror behind him. No longer would she make eye contact with him and looking at something behind him helped.

"Use the cocaine more, I keep telling you that."

"I will." She said quickly and ran out the door so she could get home faster.

When she got home, her parents welcomed her with a large dinner which was accompanied by Hinata, her sister and father, Ino's parents, and a pissed-off Ino. The meal was large and it was only the main course. Her mother made so many sides, potatoes, peas, corn, salad, and several other mixed vegetables. Dessert was a highly expensive cake that Sakura had only tried once, when she was just a little girl, and was given the biggest slice because of her newfound fame. Throughout the meal the parents chatted happily about their children's lives while the others moved to Sakura's room after dinner and talked about the usual of boys and life before Ino finally snapped.

"I don't see why they are claiming you as the latest craze. _I_ was there too and my looks _are_ more pleasing. My forehead isn't over-sized and my hair isn't an abnormal color! Possibly they are getting use confused, and it'll be my name all over the papers in no time."

Hinata and Hanabi shook their heads. It seemed Ino's pride was starting to bother her other friends as well. No one said a word though as Ino continued to raid on about how she was better and they were obviously confused and mixed their bodies up. It seemed yet to dawn on her that Sakura was right in front of her when she then said loudly "not to mention I'm _thinner then her_."

Sakura didn't say a word to Ino when she left and hung her head as low as possible as Hinata and Hanabi tried to comfort her before they left. Ino _was_ right on several of her statements. She did have an abnormal hair color and not many people were fond of pink. She wasn't highly popular like Ino and she wasn't always being praised for her appearance. _'Thinner then her_' was another thing Ino was right in. She was so heavy compared to Ino and the dinner that had taken place tonight didn't help her at all. Sakura stripped off all of her clothing, including her underwear, locked her bathroom door and looked into the mirror with sorrow-filled eyes. Her bottom was a little flabby and it was affordable to drop a little weight to make it more flat like Ino's. Her thighs showed that she ate one to many doughnuts and her stomach looked as though she was a few weeks pregnant. Her lip quivered as she looked back at her reflection as she stood on her scale, 107, why did she have to be so _fat_?

She moved back to the scale and whispered, "you fat bitch."

At that moment, Sakura lost the last ounce of innocence left in her.

* * *

Author's notes - Today the author of this story turns _fifteen!_ ('bout time too!! She was really happy to see that she's now more mature and is one year closer to getting her drivers!!) and she decided to celebrate by giving all her stories an update because you people who keep this story going are just so sweet. (Coughs) ...I have an Eating Disorder play list on my Musicmatch...writing that last scene with Sakura was highly deep to write while listening to "Beauty From Pain" (which is not mine) was really deep. Some of you may question about why is Sakura's weight only balancing from 104 -110? Because in reality the weight doesn't just shed that easily and for an Anorexic, bingeing often doesn't help, even though she may be working out a lot. Muscle weighs more...so it's only natural for her weight to bounce around. 

Thank you for reading.


	11. The Calorie Counter

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Author's notes - Thank you to all those who wished me a Happy Birthday. I did have a happy birthday by the way, lol. It took me forever to get this chapter written. Something big has happened in my family...and I'm very depressed at the moment...the process of moving rips me apart so I apologize if this chapter is disturbing...it's how I feel at the moment.

Dedication - To _Noodle-Lub-Yoo_, the amazing author of _Perfect the Imperfection, _another who helps inspirire this story with her own Sakura!Anorexic fiction. Thank you so much for your kind review and amazing authorisim.

* * *

With her newfound fame, Sakura became more popular around and found herself spending most of her days out trying to run away from photographers who were trying to get photos of her doing embarrassing things and people who claimed to be one of her closest friends. She was hardly able to spend time with Ino and Hinata, and trying to talk to Sasuke for even a brief minute was complicated enough. Sakura was more determined then ever now. Every morning and every night since the dinner she would weigh herself and keep track. She carried a tiny locked notebook with here everywhere she went to keep track of calories, making sure she never went over at least six hundred. Every week, she decided, she would cut fifty from the list. In the past five days she had been working on this new daily routine, she hadn't lost any weight, nor had she gained any. 

Sakura rubbed her left temple while she listened to Ino complain during lunch. Calculating the calories in her meal was already hard enough

_The salad...that had to be at least 120...and the grapes...those are negative calories...chocolate milk..._

_"_I'm so tired of seeing your name in the papers, Sakura. Everyone will agree of me, your fame is getting a little out of hand." Ino said in between bites of her lunch. "Hinata says that she can't open a magazine without you being mentioned."

Hinata took a large gulp of the milk she was drinking. "I-I didn't m-mean it in that way S-sakura."

_Chocolate milk...what are you...260?!_ Sakura finished jotting down the information into her notebook and snapped it shut. "Sorry, Hinata, what were you saying?"

Hinata shook her head and went back to sipping out of her carton.

"What's in that notebook of yours? You carry it everywhere and the only time I see it open is when you're finished eating." Ino snipped.

Sakura tucked the tiny book into her purse and began to lie. "Just a list of every single thing I eat. Orochimaru wants to know how much junk food I eat in a month. Most of the other models do it, even Tenten." She picked up her tray and stepped away from the table. "It's part of the fitness we're doing."

"Are you...?" Ino trailed off.

"Am I what?"

"Never mind. Are you gonna eat your muffin?"

Sakura picked up her unwrapped muffin and handed it to Ino. "No, you can have it. I don't even know _why_ I grabbed it anyway."

Ino thanked her and said she'd meet her at the line-up area in a few minutes. Sakura emptied her tray and walked outside where it was windy and freezing cold. Her heart beat faster as a large gust of wind came up from behind her and chilled her entire body. She shivered and cursed herself for not remembering to bring a jacket. Rubbing her arms fast and constantly, Sakura looked around for someone to hang around with until Ino and Hinata were finished.

"Where's your jacket?"

Sakura turned around and saw Sasuke standing behind her. "Oh, I didn't bring one. It was warmer this morning and was hardly windy at all. I thought it was going to stay like that." She envied Sasuke's fleece jacket that warmed his body.

"We have another photoshoot together. Tonight at seven."

"Where at?" She breathed out while her body continued to shake.

"The pool...Tsunade wants some last minute swimsuit photoshoots before Spring." He said with slight amassment in his voice.

Sakura continued to shake and sniffled her runny nose. "I'll be there."

"Here..." Sasuke took off his jacket and handed it to her. "If you're sick...Orochimaru will be pissed. I'll see you tonight."

Gratefully, she slipped into his warm jacket. Breathing in Sasuke's scent of Soy sauce and wild flowers (most likely from the detergent Rin used and Sasuke's lunch) she blushed thinking about his kind action.

"Sakura! We're finished. Sorry it took us so long, _someone_ wanted to say hi to Naruto." Ino yelled, rushing over to her. "They could only---why are you wearing Sasuke's jacket?"

"He gave it to me...he saw how cold I was and decided to let me borrow it until tonight." She said truthfully.

Ino's eyes grew and she looked like she was about to burst from anger. "You really need to stay away from Sasuke, he's mine, remember?"

"Y-you have S-shikamaru..." Hinata added.

Ino glared at Hinata then back to Sakura. "Stop trying to flirt, I know you're jealous because he likes me, but Sakura, just back off."

"Has Sasuke even talked to you, Ino?"

"Once or twice." Ino's eyes flared and she looked like she about to pounce onto Sakura.

The bell rang for them to get to class, but neither of the three girls moved.

"Once or twice? He talks to me nearly everyday." Her eyes flared back and Sakura curled her hands into fists.

"S-sakura...I-ino maybe w-we sh-should go now." Hinata pointed to Kurenai who was always on lunch duty to make sure students returned to class.

"Humph!" Ino turned her head, flipped her hair and walked away while muttering to herself that she was going to get Sakura back for wearing _her_ Sasukes' jacket.

That night, after not saying another word to Ino nor making any form of contact with her, Sakura drove twenty minutes to the city pool for her new photoshoot. She giggled. Sasuke in a swimsuit, and she was going to be there with him modeling out as well. His jacket was folded neatly on her lap to keep it a bit warmer, her car was so slow at heating up. Her mind couldn't help but wander into the thought of her now being allowed to pose with a shirtless Sasuke. She felt childish for dreaming of Sasuke, like a little girl thinking about her fairytale wedding, she was thinking of her fairytale photoshoot.

Walking into the pool, Sakura was greeted by Orochimaru who handed her three different swimsuits. "They are all Tsunade's design. I'm only giving to three to see which one your fat ass will squeeze into."

She glared and snatched the three swimsuits. The first, a one piece that showed the entire back and was all white with a wave print on it was too-small in the bottom and stomach area. The second was a small two-piece with a halter top and the regular bikini bottom. It was a sea-green and had a black dotted print of Hawaii-flowers on the breasts. To her disappointment, it was too small in the bust and she crossed her fingers for the last swimsuit. It was a simple pink bikini that had a red flower on each of the hip sides that held the front and back piece together. To her slight luck, it was just a tad to tight in the bottom but it wouldn't matter all that much.

After a quick hair and makeup touch up she went to the pool and looked desperately around for Sasuke. He was already in the water, talking to Jiraiya. She couldn't make out his swimsuit but it seemed to be just a plain black one with red trim.

"You could only fit into the largest one, hm?" Orochimaru said in disgust. "Too-bad...I was hoping I'd be able to see you in that tiny sea-green one...but we can't all get what he want."

She slipped her body into the water and moved over to Sasuke, who had just finished up with Jiraiya.

"This photoshoot is last minute...I apologize for that." Tsunade took a drink from a water bottle she carried along with her. "For my new line of swimsuits I want it to appeal to the teens...try to make it look real. No cheesy poses or anything like that. You can get out of the water if you both want and model along the rim or on some towels."

Sasuke seemed to be reading her mind...or maybe she was reading his. They worked together as one and gave a few fake smiles, laughs, and posed easily with the props and water. Tsunade found the shoot she wanted by their fifth picture, but insisted they took a few more since they worked so well together. After an additional seventy pictures, they were excused to dry off and leave.

"I have your jacket in my car." She shivered, wrapping a towel around her body. "Thank you for letting me borrow it...I would have returned it after school, but you ran off so fast."

"Alright."

Her eyes moved to Orochimaru, who motioned for her to come over. He most likely was going to weigh her. She quickly excused herself and rushed over to Orochimaru, who wanted exactly as she thought. To both of their horror and disgust she was now back up to 110.

"Sakura...what am I to do with you?" Orochimaru sighed and twirrled his fingers in her wet hair. "You keep getting fatter and fatter...soon you'll be off of the tabloids because of your weight...just what am I to do with you?" He squeezed her hair and some water dripped down her back. "You're a teenage girl who probably loves to shop...what if I started to pay you for every eight hours you do not eat? Would four hundred thirty three satisfy you?"

She was puzzled. "You're going to start paying me not to eat?"

"Many of my models do this...and they've come out so beautifully...but I believe you'll be the most beautiful."

She stepped away from him and placed her legs into a stance, ready to run just in case he tried anything again. "Am I just going to be one of your sick projects?"

He smiled. "No, you're my model and I only wish to see you progress in this career...so what do you say?"

"Well..." Sakura bit her lip. She wouldn't mind having the extra money for shopping and she did plan on going to college, half of that money could be placed into a fund. It wasn't like twenty-one hours was a _long_ time. It was shorter then a day but longer then the time she was awake. "...I'll do it."

* * *

"Right punch. Left punch. Right. Left. Right. Left...good." Gai-Sensei said happily. "Back-stance...knife-hand low block. Go." 

Her training with Gai-Sensei continued, as well Lee's flirtatious smiles and speeches. She found it highly difficult to keep up with the higher students. They were much faster, stronger, and more intelligent in this certain area. She was 'naturally talented' according to Gai-Sensei and was a high kicker for someone who never did Martial Arts before, as well her flexibility was on top too.

_Knife-hand left, knife-hand right. Left. Right..._She focused most of her mind on the move she was doing, hoping it would be perfected in no time so she would be caught up with the other students.

"Sparring stance...number two front kick, go!"

Sakura lifted up her leg, snapped it, brought it back into it's chamber and then back down on the ground. She repeated this action until they were told to switch legs, then continued until Gai-Sensei called for a water break.

"Your kicks are amazing, Sakura." Said Lee happily. "Have you been practicing outside of the school?"

"Actually, no...you really think my kicks are that high?" She beamed.

Lee nodded. "You have good talent, Sakura."

* * *

It had been one week since she had made the deal with Orochimaru and yet, she failed to complete twenty-one hours. Her calories continued to be written in the tiny notebook, but once again, she failed to cut any of them down. She always went over her set limit by twenty or so. She and Ino still were not talking to each other, but Hinata was their little messenger and passed a few threats from one to the other. Sakura knew it would only end if they met face-to-face and began either a verbal or cat fight. She knew if it was a cat, she'd win, her Martial Arts trained her for that. Verbal was going to be more difficult. Ino was stronger on that part...possibly it would be both. 

The only thing good in Sakura's week was the extra time she was spending with Sasuke and Tenten. They both spent a great deal amount of time with her, and Tenten was also kind enough to listen to Sakura's problems and try to give some sort of advice to her. And though Sasuke never talked, she was able to get several sentences out of him and found out a bit of information about him.

"What is your family like?" She asked while waiting for Orochimaru to finish a meeting he had with Tsunade. When he didn't reply she asked him again. "What is your family like?"

"Dead..."

"Excuse me?"

"They're dead...except for...my brother."

"How did it happen?" Her eyes were the size of large coins.

He took a deep breath and stood up. "You're so annoying."

_What the?! We were doing fine until then, why are you walking away from me?! _"Sasuke, I'm sorry." _It can't be that bad. Stop walking away! _"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." _I know Kakashi will tell me if I ask, just stop walking away!_

She stood up and began to chase after him, she was sure Orochimaru would be a bit longer and would have time to apologize again. "Sasuke, wait, I said I was sorry please just---oh! Kakashi!"

"Hello. Scared Sasuke off?"

Sakura frowned. "Yes..."

"Asked him about his family?"

She nodded.

"Sasuke doesn't like talking about his family much...he was only a little boy when it happened?"

"When _what_ happened?"

Kakashi wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Sasuke grew up in the Uchiha family as you know...famous and rich. He had an older brother named Itachi, who was slightly power hungry, was a master an amazing Martial Artist...he had talent beyond anyone beliefs. Itachi didn't feel like he was showing what he was truly capable off and one night, when Sasuke was away at a photoshoot, he killed _everyone _in the Uchiha family."

Sakura gasped. "Then how did Sasuke ever survive?"

"When Sasuke came home the very next morning, he saw his parents, Fugaku and Mikoto, on the floor covered in blood and was distraught...he ran into Itachi, who then told Sasuke that he was the one who murdered their family and informed Sasuke that he was not worth killing..."

"Wasn't worth killing?"

Kakashi scratched the back of his head with his other hand. "Yeah...he left Sasuke in a large state of shock and he left the agency the following day. He was then placed under my care three months later."

Sakura's jaw hung low. "Poor Sasuke..."

He nodded. "Sasuke won't be home until late tonight now...he never mentions his family, and when he does, he doesn't return until late. Rin and I have grown to trust that he's doing the right things."

Sakura stretched out her neck and tried to see if she could catch Sasuke down the hall. "When you see him...please tell him I'm sorry."

"Of course I wi---"

"Sakura! Get in here." Orochimaru's voice was furious.

"I'll see you later." She said quickly and rushed over to the room where she was needed.

In the room there were several empty beer bottles and one in Orochimaru's own hands that was nearly empty. "I'm in a foul mood now Sakura...let's hope your weight will not increase it."

She didn't hesitate. This seemed to be the highest amount of alcohol she had seen him intake and was careful as she removed her clothing and stepped on the scale.

"Read it."

"It says I'm...107**."**

Orochimaru's nostrils flared and he threw down his beer. "You fat bitch! You can't keep yourself away from the food for very long can you? I haven't had to pay you once!" He raised his hand and slapped her hard across the face, knocking her body over and tipping the scale. He grabbed her by her short hair and raised her body up, the alcohol that had dripped onto his hands sticking to her hair and has he continued to slap her she smelt the beer and tasted the blood in her mouth."So many people would have to have my as their agent. Only so few are permitted and you just happen to be the one that falls into my lap! How do you show your appreciation? You stuff your face!"

Her cheek burned as he gave the final slap to her face and let her go, taking a handful of hair with him.

"Obviously you don't see how fat you really are." He spat.

Sakura curled her body up into the fetal position and began to sob.

"Get up. I'll make you see it, one way or another." Orochimaru picked her up by her hair again and dragged her to the large vanity mirror. "Tell yourself how fat you are...I want you to pull every inch of your body were an ounce of fat is and say you hate yourself!"

She did as she was told. Weakly she stood her body up and started at her face where it stung and she grabbed her still rounded face. "Y-you're...so fat..." She said softly.

"Louder. And say it like you mean it. You truly are fat, you need to see it." He slapped the back of her head.

"You're so fat!" She screamed and pulled at her collarbone where a small ounce of skin followed. "You're so fat!" She grabbed her arm. "You disgusting _pig_!" Sakura grabbed her stomach with two medium sized fistfuls of skin. "You worthless little bitch, you're selfish gluttony has done this to you!" Her hands moved to her bottom. "Worthless, see how much fat I can grab?!" They glided down to her legs. "Fat, fat, fat, fat! You fucking fat-ass!"

Orochimaru laughed with joy as she went back up and down her body, screaming at herself for the way she looked.

She ran her fingers through her hair and grabbed out fistfuls of hair. "Why can't you be thin like Ino or Tenten? They were born with such perfect bodies and managed to keep it! You were born with a distorted figure and you've only made it worse! You worthless bitch!" She screamed at the mirror and punched it without even thinking before dropping to the ground and returning to the fetal position, tears and blood mixing onto the floor.

Orochimaru bent down beside her and brushed some hair out of her eyes. "If you do that every morning and every night...you'll finally be able to control yourself better." He let out a small laugh compared to what he was doing a few seconds ago. "Soon enough this fat will leave your body."

"Please leave me..." She sobbed into the floor. "I just want to be alone..."

From the small crack in the door, Sasuke stood there with no sign of emotion across his face after he witnessed the entire thing. Sakura was completely unaware.

* * *

Author's notes - Well...I needed to bring in the Sasuke's story at some point...and I'm highly unsatisfied with this chapter but it did come around pretty well. Lots of Sasuke for you Sasuke lovers...and more Ino bitch-ness and Orochimaru bastard-ness. Shockingly, there are models/actresses that are paid not to eat. I think it's done by the hour usually, but in my way he pays her after a certain amount of time (obviously.) I'm so happy with the way this one ended, I hope it didn't scare any of you though. In an Anorexic's mind they have the disease that controls their thoughts...think of Orochimaru as the Anorexia's unofficial assistant. (Credit to _Crazed15yearold_ for giving a written piece of Orochimaru slapping her. She was great deal of inspiration for the ending and I thank her **so** much for that.) 

Thank you for reading.


	12. Seven Sins

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Author's notes - It seems that once again I have disturbed a few of my readers. (Laughs nervously) Like I said; I won't be offended if you stopped reading because it was so vivid. This is reality and this is what some Anorexic's do to themselves. So, when we last ended, Sakura curled up and began to cry, unaware that Sasuke saw the whole thing, what will happen?! (Plays dramatic music.)

* * *

Sakura continued to cry in the fetal position when Orochimaru left her to go get Tenten. The wound on her hand was still bleeding and to control it, every few seconds she would suck on her hand to control it and her crying. She didn't know what to feel, what to think. Was she supposed to be happy of this new lesson of self-hate or was she to hate it as much as she was to hate her body? Mixed feelings was all she could feel as she continued to suck the blood from her knuckles. 

Sets of footsteps grew louder as they neared the room, and she could have sworn she heard Tenten's voice say "excuse me, Sasuke," as she slipped through the door. Tenten gasped when she saw Sakura on the floor and rushed over to help. "Orochimaru said you needed help, I didn't think it was this bad! Are you alright?"

Tenten pulled her body up and grabbed the scarf around her neck. "Here, wrap this around your knuckles...what happened? It looks like you fell."

Sakura lifted up her head and wiped away her tears. "Yeah...I sorta lost control of my feet and tipped on the scale..." She lied and checked out her ankles were the scale and tipped on her. "I told Orochimaru to get some help, thankfully he grabbed you." Sakura pulled her legs to her chest and tried to stand up with Tenten's support.

"Do you need a ride home? It looks like your ankle is going to swell, which will make it difficult to drive." Tenten was obviously overreacting.

"It's alright." Sakura laughed lightly. Her ankle did look like it was going to swell, but she didn't want to make a big fuss over it. "I'll be able to drive...can you hand me my clothes?"

She nodded and after sitting Sakura down in Orochimaru's chair, she grabbed her clothes and helped her get dressed and after Tenten knew Sakura was going to be alright, she walked Sakura to her car. Hearing Tenten call Sasuke's name must've been her imagination, there was no trace of Sasuke being near the room and Kakashi was probably right about Sasuke wandering.

"I'll be fine, Tenten. You can stop checking to make sure my leg is alright."

"It just looks like you took a nasty beating to your body." Tenten continued to check around Sakura's body. "Something horrible must've set you off if it made this bad of a mess."

Limping through her house a few hours later, Sakura saw that there was an unread message on the phone. It was from Ino, saying that she wanted to go catch a movie on Wednesday and silently admitting that she was overacting about her wearing Sasuke's jacket. Sakura quickly called Ino back and also silently apologized and agreed to go to the movies with her. Ino did most of the talking for the next two hours, bringing up random life comments about her career, her dating status, and her own prideful appearance. Several times in the conversation Sakura rolled her eyes and gave fake positive comments to whatever it was Ino was saying. It drove her crazy to listen to Ino at a time like this. She rambled on about herself and didn't bother to ask how Sakura's own day was. Typical of Ino. The pain in her ankle finally caught up with the pain in her knuckles and Sakura gave off a quick lie to pull herself away from the phone.

Sakura then walked to her bedroom. The day had been long and she was now extremely tired. When she fell onto her bed, she closed her eyes and smiled. It felt so good to lay down on something so soft and not having Orochimaru grill her about her weight and modelling made the moment even better. Yet she couldn't stop thinking about what she and Orochimaru had done. It was so strange to scream at herself in the mirror like that. She wanted to show now. Wash off that strange feeling she had on her skin.

She took a quick look at her nude body in the mirror and squinted her eyes. There was hair on her body that had not been there before. Her legs began to shake as she turned her body around and around to only find more hair. Why was her body doing this? It had to be a stage of puberty, it was her only logical explanation. Sakura shook her head, maybe she was just imagining things. As she washed her skin, her new hair began to disturb her. This just wasn't right. She moved to her hair, running her fingers the short style she broke several nails and pulled out thick clumps of hair. Her heart began to pound hard against her chest. She was losing _and_ growing hair? Her mother never went over this with her when she was first given a talk about her growing body, maybe it was only a thing certain women developed before womanhood. Yes, that was it. There was no need to worry.

Sakura tried to ignore her new hair and hair loss as she slipped into clean clothing. She sat on her bed for a few minutes before deciding to move to the computer. The only way to find out about what was going on with her body was to do research. Typing in 'hair growth' to her search bar didn't give her much help. Several adds for hair products came up and then a few articles about hair. Her eyes then caught to a biography where it mentioned hair growth on a young model. She clicked it, hoping for answers. The biography was on Tayuya. Several photos and links were on the page with detail of Tayuya's amazing modelling career that came to a tragic end. Sakura's eyes desperately read the biography which was mostly about her death. Then, finally, it moved to her absurd hair growth and loss. The biography claimed that Tayuya had Anorexia, which causes hair growth on your body and hair loss on your head. Her eyes grew. She quickly went back to the search bar and typed in Anorexia. Several links popped up and she searched for one that gave her signs and causes of the disease.

"Loss of at least three consecutive menstrual periods (in women) Not wanting or refusing to eat in public, anxiety, weakness, dry skin, shortness of breath, obsessiveness about calorie intake, hair loss on the scalp, and hair growth." She whispered out to herself. So many of those symptoms she had and didn't even realize it. Sakura was becoming one of the stereotype models. -------

Sakura chewed on her bottom lip as she read her History text book. They had finished their studies on the Americans and were working their way back to Asia where they were studying India. In the back of her mind, she had thanked Yuhi-Sensei for making History so much fun and easier for her throughout the months and was starting to get a little disappointed with Summer coming and Yuhi-Sensei's seventeen-week unborn child. History would most likely become harder for Sakura in the next grade and wished that time and time again she could keep her current Sensei's. They knew her best and she was most comfortable with them.

She wrote down some notes she would be needing for a test they'd soon be given and glanced over at Sasuke. Even though he was already quiet, Sasuke seemed to be more quiet then usual. He didn't reply when any of the teachers called on him and when Naruto did something stupid, instead of making a reply he continued with whatever it was he was doing. It bothered her to see him like this and made her wonder what was going on in his life when she didn't see him.

"Psst, Sakura?" Ino poked her back.

"Hm?"

"Have you noticed Sasuke's attitude lately? He seems so depressed." Ino glanced over to Sasuke then gasped in excitement. "Maybe he's sensitive!"

Sakura cocked an eyebrow. "I don't think that's the reason why...I could ask him...possibly."

"It'd be better if _I_ asked him. He likes me better, remember?" Ino pointed to herself and smiled.

Sakura rolled her eyes quickly in hope that Ino didn't see. "Hm...well if you think it'll work out better."

Ino's smile grew. "I'll catch him after school." And she went back to writing her notes down about India.

It was highly doubtful that Sasuke would admit what was wrong with him. Especially if Ino asked. It was worth a pathetic try though. Even if he told her to go away, it would be good enough for her. She quickly re-read through her notes before handing them up to Yuhi-Sensei. Something had to have gotten to Sasuke and she wanted to find out what.

After the bell rang and they were excused from class, Sakura quickly slipped through her classmates and caught up to Sasuke. She tugged on the sleeve of his shirt and pulled him out of the way of traffic in the hall.

"Is something wrong? You seem _more_ quiet then usual today." Sakura said carefully and in the back of her mind thought she sounded like a concerned boyfriend with a suicidal girlfriend.

His raised his eyes and made little contact with her. "No." He finally said.

She sighed. "You've been like this ever since I brought up...you know...and Kakashi told me that---"

"That's not why I'm like this." He quickly snapped in his usual dull voice.

Her body jolted and she bit on her lip. "Sorry. You just seem like something's bothering you."

Sasuke stared at Sakura's concerned face for a few moments and finally let a little bit of the anger expression off. "Are you busy this weekend?" He finally spoke and said it calmly.

"No...why?"

He gave a weak smile. "Maybe you'd like to hang out with me then?"

Sakura's stomach did a somersault. "Really? I'd _love_ to! Do you have any plans or are you going to decide when we met up?" She said quickly.

"Dinner...at my house again? I'll cook for you for a change."

"A walk around a nearby park afterwards and then maybe a movie?" She asked desperately.

His small smile faded. "If you want...I'll see you on Saturday at seven then."

Sakura pursed her lips together to refrain herself from screaming out in joy and nodded. She was going to go on a date with Sasuke, and _he_ had asked _her_. It only made her day cheerful from then on. She didn't care that she had gained two more pounds during the weekend and Ino was going to kill her if she ever found out, but it didn't matter.

* * *

"A _Seven Sins_ theme?" Sakura said with curiosity as she watched a few people set up props for them to use. 

Tsunade nodded. "Hm-mm. I've even assigned you each a sin. Temari, you'll be greed."

Temari smirked.

"Tenten you're going to be lust. Sasuke will be wrath and Sakura, is envy."

"What about the other three sins?" Tenten asked, looking around for some other models.

"My friend, Shizune, who owns _Suna_ models is bringing her three finest young models over for this shoot. They should be arriving any minute now."

_Suna models? Does that mean Ino will be coming with them? Ohh, I hope not she'll just try flirt with Sasuke and prove how much better she is then I...Why was I given envy anyway? Orochimaru will agree with me when I say that I will be better as gluttony...I won't be surprised if Ino was given pride. _

Shizune was a little short compared to Tsunade, with short black hair, a round face, and large brown eyes. The first model behind her was a inch or so taller then her with much narrow eyes and medium-length hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. The second model was much younger then the first by several years and had long red hair that came passed her shoulders. Her eyes were a deep chocolate brown and a blush was heavy under her eyes. And, to Sakura's slight discomfort, the third model was Ino.

"Tsunade, I bring my finest models. Hana, Moegi, and Ino." Shizune pointed to each as she said there names.

Tsunade smiled. "Temari, Tenten, Sakura, and of course, Sasuke, are my finest models." She didn't bother to point them out like Shizune had done.

After the three new models were given their sins (Hana being sloth, Moegi as gluttony, and Ino as pride,) they were sent away to hair and makeup. Sakura had not yet spoke to Ino and to her great pleasure, she had not made any moves towards Sasuke. As they painted her skin green she saw Ino move to Tenten and they began to chat lightly about something. Tenten seemed highly uninterested and listened flatly to what she had to say.

Sakura looked at herself in the mirror. Her skin had been fully painted to a pale green and her makeup was a hunter green around her eyes and lips. The outfit she wore was a thin gown that she would think more of goddess wearing then a sin.

Tenten's outfit was a lot more revealing, it was a corset and underwear mix that was a deep blood red. Her hair was held up by black chopsticks and a single red rose. Her lips and eyes were coloured crimson. Sakura's jaw dropped, Tenten looked so beautiful. Ino's outfit of pride showed a bit of the vanity side of the sin. Her face was heavy coated in makeup and large expensive jewelry covered her ears and neck. Ino's outfit was sexy designer jeans and a beautiful matching tank top, it didn't look much different from her everyday wardrobe. Sakura especially liked Sasuke's outfit. He wore all black with light tinges of red and his hair and been messed up. Splattered on the outfit and his face was fake blood to give him the look of wrath. She smiled, a very fitting sin for Sasuke.

Once the others were ready, Shizune and Tsunade lined them up in a certain order for a few group shots. Sakura was highly confused. The other seemed to be doing simple poses and expressions to match their sin, but what was envy supposed to do? Unsure, she went with the flow and tried to do her best with the shoots.

Singles and doubles with each sin were easier. When she was on her own, she had a bit more confidence and had a much better idea of what was going on. Jiraiya praised her constantly with her 'wonderful' work and Orochimaru himself seemed to be a bit pleased. Even modeling with one partner was much more easier then six. As she worked carefully with the other models, she was certain to make it look like she was doing her best, messing up only once or twice when Ino was with her and just a light mistake when she was with Sasuke.

After the shoots, Sakura began to wash off the makeup from her skin with a washcloth, doing her best to ignore the new hair on her body.

"Sasuke, I'm not sure if you're doing anything this weekend, but I have two movie passes. Wanna come?" Ino was making her move.

He did his best to ignore her and glanced at Sakura, who looked away when they made eye contact.

"I'm busy this weekend."

"Oh? Well, maybe I can go with you!" Said Ino in a desperate tone.

"No."

She frowned. "Why not?"

"Because...it's a date I'm going on."

Ino's nostrils flared in anger and she crossed her arms. "Oh, a date? With who?"

Sasuke smiled. "Sakura."

Sakura took a deep breath. Ino would either do two things. Storm out in anger with saying very little words or nothing at all. Or, she would screech at Sasuke for liking Sakura and not her and then later give Sakura hell for not telling her sooner. Time went slow as she saw Ino turn her head to face her and prayed that it was the first option.

"You? He's going on a date with _you_?!"

She flinched her body looked at Ino's feet.

"Why would he be interested in you and your over-larged forehead? She snapped, stomping her foot down harshly on the ground.

"Leave my forehead out of this." Sakura snapped back and glanced over to Sasuke who seemed to be out of the picture. "I don't want to discuss this now...when we leave?"

Ino flipped her short hair that had grown at an alarming fast rate. "Humph. Whatever."

Sakura sighed. "Ino really is a nice friend..." She eyed Sasuke's look confusion. "She can just get...um...self-centred and moody I guess would be a way to explain it." Sakura laughed lightly and tried to ignored Sasuke's facial expression. "Um...Orochimaru will probably want to discuss my modelling now...so I'll just go now." She excused herself from him and rushed out into the hallway. She felt flustered and hot all over. Her fighting with Ino had become more frequent and it tore her up inside to have the constant fighting. She was missing the days before Sasuke when they would spend more time together sharing gossip and staying up until four watching romance movies. Now they hardly spoke and spent their time together with Ino acting self-centred and talking about how she was perfect for Sasuke.

"I thought you were going to leave before I could weigh you." Orochimaru's cold voice echoed in the hallway.

She jumped. "I'm sorry. I was talking with some friends and it took me a while to remove my makeup."

He grabbed her hand and dragged her to their room. The door was closed and she had already removed her shirt.

"I'm starting to see your rib-bones on your back when you lift up your arms." His voice was full of lust. "Have you been restricting better?"

She nodded and slid down her pants and stepped out of them. "I've also been writing down my intake of calories in a small notebook...just like you told me to."

The numbers danced as she stepped her feet onto the scale and stopped at 109. She made a long sigh and whispered out the numbers to him.

"Tsk tsk...Sakura how could you gain two pounds in four days?"

She stared at the number. "I'm sorry...I'll do better. I promise...I'll come back on Sunday and weigh 106."

One of Orochimaru's large hands played with her hair. "And what if you do not weigh 106 by Sunday, hm? I'll have to punish you deeply for that." His hot breath was against her ear and she shivered in discomfort. She despised it when he was this close to her.

"I understand...but how deep will my punishment be?" She wasn't sure if she wanted to know, but it was best if she did. If he told her, she would train her body by the weekend to prepare or hopefully withstand whatever he had planned.

"You don't want to know, my dear Sakura." He twirled her hair and took an intake of the scent her hair gave off. "You'll just regret not weighing 106 when I finish."

When her clothes were back on her body and she was out of the agency, she saw Ino waiting for her by her car. "Sakrua..." She said.

"Ino..."

Their was a moment of silence between them before Sakura spoke again.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you that he asked me out...you're dating Shikamaru anyway..."

Ino turned her head away and opened up her car door. "You know I like him though...I'll see you later." She slammed her car door shut and drove off.

* * *

Sakura ran her hair through her fingers as she took once last glance in the mirror before she answered the door. She jammed her feet into her heels, put a smile on her face and answered the door with a cheerful, "hello, Sasuke!" 

He stood in front of her, tall and wearing a nice set of regular clothing. She felt a little over dressed in her pretty outfit when she saw he only wore jeans and a tee-shirt. "Ready?" Was all he asked and moved aside to let her pass. Sasuke didn't compliment her outfit nor did he speak to her in any form until they arrived to his house. When he opened the door for her, Pakkun jumped up at her legs and licked her legs happily.

"Hello, Pakkun. I've missed you too!" She cooed and held the pug in her hands.

"It looks like Kakashi and Rin are still getting ready...is there something you'd like to drink?" He finally spoke.

With Pakkun in her arms she stood up and smiled. "Yes, thank you. Um...anything diet will actually do."

Kakashi stood in the entrance of the dinning room and smiled. "Aw, you made her supper, Sasuke? Funny...that looks like the sushi Rin bought earlier today." He laughed lightly.

Sasuke glared and set the sushi onto the table.

Kakashi laughed again. "Rin and I are going out for the night too. You two will be home alone for the next little while...and Sasuke, you better keep your hands to yourself. Just because I'm not going to be home, it doesn't mean you can pull something you've seen in my _Icha Icha_ book."

Sakura blushed and Sasuke shot him yet another nasty glare and muttered something under his breath.

Rin's laughter came from the other room. "Kakashi, I think _you're_ the one that needs to learn to stop pulling things from that dirty novel!"

His laughter continued. "It's not like she minds."

Sasuke let out a very tiny gag noise as he brought over two glasses and began to fill them up with the diet soda she had asked for when she first arrived. "Pervert..." He muttered.

"Oh, and Sasuke..." Kakashi called as Rin walked up beside him wearing a nice gown. "Here, just in case you two love-birds can't control your urges...here's a few tricks from _Icha Icha_ I think you'll like." He slide a medium-sized sheet of paper across the island and turned around laughing while Rin hissed at him for trying to perv-up his Foster child.

"Kakashi is an interesting man..." Said Sakura after they reached the door.

"Try living with him..." He handed her a set of chopsticks.

Just as Kakashi and Rin were reached the door, they heard a knock. One that gave Sakura the chills. Kakashi answered the door, perplexed as to who it could be. Opening it he gave a slight noise of discomfort and then said "Orochimaru..." In more of a cursed tone.

"Oh? Not happy to see me, Kakashi?" His voice was full of snark as he grinned. "I don't have business with you. I'd just like a few words with Sasuke. After all, he's once again my model."

"No." He said with a glare that matched Sasuke's.

"Kakashi! I-I'm sorry Orochimaru_...sir…_please come in." Rin scolded from behind Kakashi. Actually having to pull him out of the way so that he could let Orochimaru enter their home, Rin looked up to her boyfriend in a disapproving glance and gave a harsh whisper. "You _know _how he is...I'm sure his business will be quick..."

Orochimaru eyed Rin with a playful look and glanced into the kitchen where he saw a clear view of Sakura and Sasuke beginning to eat their sushi. He smirked. She wasn't going to weigh 106 by tomorrow, she had lied to him about her better restricting. He was going to enjoy the pain he would inflict on her when she read off a higher number.

"Sasuke...Orochimaru is here, and he'd like a word with you." Said Kakashi in a firm tone.

Sasuke excused himself from the table and headed over to Kakashi, Rin, and Orochimaru. They moved to another room and Sakura was cut off from hearing their discussion. She quietly ate her sushi as she waited with Rin who assured her that it was all model business. Orochimaru left a few minutes later and Kakashi slammed the door shut with anger. He called for Rin and told her that he wanted to go now to take his mind off of things. She had yet to see Sasuke return.

Sakura was nibbling on a grain of rice when Sasuke returned. "Are you alright?" She asked, noticing his pale face.

He nodded. "I'm not hungry anymore...would you like to go on that walk?"

She swallowed the grain of rice and nodded.

Their walk was short and they didn't say a word to each other. Sasuke seemed to be mulling over whatever it was Orochimaru had told him and it worried her to only think about what he could have said to him. Their trip to the movies was just as quiet, he bought her only a diet soda and didn't bother to ask her if she wanted anything else. The theatre was cold and when he gave her the jacket he brought along with him he didn't return oral-contact when she thanked him.

At the end of their silent date he walked her up to the steps of her house and finally spoke. "Did you enjoy yourself?"

She nodded. "Even if it was a little quiet, I had a wonderful time and I hope to do again soon." From her behind, she crossed a set of her fingers in hope that he would kiss her goodnight.

"I'll see you tomorrow then." He turned around and headed off back to his house.

She sighed. "Of course...night."

Her first date in life didn't go according to plan and she spent more time in silence then she did in conversation. She opened the door to her house and kicked off her heels. What was it that Orochimaru had said to him that caused his foul mood to return?

* * *

Author's notes- I really hate making OC's in my stories so for those of you who only watch the American version or aren't totally up with what's happening currently (or was happening, lol) Hana is actually Kiba's sister and well, obviously Moegi is Konohamaru's girlfriend...she just happens to be a lot older in this story, lol. Like in the Shippuuden. Now, some of you have been asking 'Why do you put a "u" in beahviour?' Beacause I'm Canadian. And we spell that word (as well several others) with a 'u' added. I apologize if this has thrown some of you off or believe my spelling is bad. 

Thank you for reading.


	13. Words of Hatred on the Skin

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto, yes yes. I think we know by now.

Author's notes - Oh, here we go. Chapter thirteen. I'm not sure on what I should say for this one Orochimaru is becoming more evil then he already is and...just more SasuSaku of course. And this update is the last I will do for at least a month. I'm leaving Canada to go to my new home where I will then build it. It'll take time to do with my Martial Arts and whole 'settling down' process. So please, bear with me and try not to get angry when I don't update for a while.

* * *

Sakura stretched out her body and arched her back the next morning. It was bright and unusually warm for the beginning of April. She slept fairly well with thoughts of her date with Sasuke from the night before. Today was going to be such a good day. She could tell from the way she felt when she awoke. Rolling onto her side to get a better look at her clock, the mood of it being a good day faded. She _did _have to go in and see Orochimaru today, and she was certain he saw her eating the Sushi. She did fail to lose the weight she promised to drop, or at least she was certain that she failed. 

She went to her bathroom and took a quick shower. Weighing herself would only cause her to panic if she did not weigh the required 106 she promised him.

With her nearly empty bag of cocaine, purse, and assorted items she'd need in the future, Sakura walked out the door half an hour later and drove up to Kyoshi. Trying to think of punishments he'd give her when he saw she had not yet hit the number weight. It was taking her so long to drop so little weight. Ino had magically been able to lose weight without any trouble at all, and here she was, struggling to drop just three small pounds. She pulled into the parking lot and inhaled deeply. In ten minutes time she would find out her weight, Orochimaru's reaction and what this deep punishment would be if she failed.

"Hello, Orochimaru." Sakura said with a forced happy tone.

"Don't stall. Get on the scale."

She prayed to herself in hopes of weighing 106 and stepped onto the scale, the numbers turned for a second before stopping on 107. Her eyes grew and a weird warmth crossed through her body. She all of a sudden felt weak and wanted to cry. "107..." She whispered. "I weigh 107."

Orochimaru looked at the scale. "Off by a pound. My punishment to you won't be as harsh then, Sakura. I'm not surprised you weigh 107...after stuffing your face at Sasuke's home last night, I'm not surprised you weigh 110." He raised his hand as if he was to strike her.

Sakura bit her lip and waited for his palm to connect with her face, she stepped off of the scale just to be safe. Then it happened. It felt like someone smacked her face with something burning as his palm lashed against her cheek. She fell onto the floor and was happy to find that the scale didn't trip with her.

"How many times do I have to punish you for eating, Sakura?" He grabbed her by the hair like he did the last time he hurt her and began to hit her face over and over. "Do my beatings to your disgusting body not motivate you enough? Or should I try punishing you harder?"

Her face felt like it was going to bruise. The taste of blood was in her mouth. She didn't whimper when he hit her, only cursed in her mind. "Punish me harder. Punish me harder!" She screamed.

Orochimaru dragged Sakura around the room by her hair, shoving her in front of mirrors and pulling at different parts of her bare body where he could find parts of fat. Orochimaru took a measuring rope and wrapped it around her torso and pulled tightly as he screamed at her, disgusted as much as she was to see her stomach had grown half an inch. He slapped her often and spat at her face when she wouldn't reply to the questions he asked. He cursed at her and said he'd punish her again if she broke a promise, said a word to anyone, or hurt him in anyway possible. As he tugged at pulled at her body she wanted to scream and ask why he was doing this. He had several other models working under him, was it just her he hated or did he treat all of her other models like this?

When the beating was finally over and her clothing was back on her painful body he smiled as if nothing happened. "Remember what I told you Sakura."

She nodded meekly. "Why do you do this?"

"Hm?"

"Why do you hurt me and tell me to do these things?"

Orochimaru smiled. "My dear Sakura, I just want you to be perfect. Don't you want perfection?"

Sakura hung her head. "Yes...I do..."

She closed the door and walked down the hall to Tenten's room. Perfection was the reason he was hurting her? It didn't make any sense. If he wanted her to be so prefect, so beautiful, he wouldn't harass her until she saw stars. She rapped the door three times and waited for Tenten to answer.

"Sakura? What happened to you? Your face is red and your nose is bleeding!" Tenten's brown eyes shimmered with concern when she answered.

Sakura twirled a piece of her hair. "Sorry Tenten...I tripped over set of shoes and went face first into the floor."

Tenten raised an eyebrow. "You tripped?"

"Yeah, silly huh? I'm a model yet here I am, tripping everywhere." She laughed lightly and reached into her purse. "Anyway...I was wondering if I could...have my bag filled up...I'm running low and I really don't want to use it all before coming to you." She dropped the bag into Tenten's hand.

"Of course. I can get it for you now."

Sakura smiled painfully. "Thank you."

"Do you want to...finish up your bag now?" Tenten held up two small mirrors.

"No. I'm sorry. As much I'd love to, my nose really stings." Sakura pursed her lips. Doing cocaine with Tenten always was fun and comforting.

Tenten smiled and put the mirrors away. "Understandable. Neji and I are going out tonight anyway. I don't think he'd like it if he saw me all ditzy. We should plan a date when we have our own date out." She glanced at her calender. "How 'bout...Friday night. After your Martial Arts class?"

"How did you know that I was in Martial Arts?" She didn't recall telling Tenten.

"Neji. Our friend Lee, whom I'm sure you've met, told Neji, who told me."

"Oh. Do you and Neji do Martial Arts too?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I have a private Sensei though. Neji and Lee both train under Gai. Lee was telling me that he informed you about tournaments...do you think you're going to do one? You can't do tournaments until you're at least...I think orange belt." She laughed. "I think Lee forgot to tell you that."

"Yes he did...I'm not ready for it anyway." Sakura shrugged.

Tenten laughed. "I know what you mean. And with your new fame it must be pretty busy, hm?"

"Actually it's not as bad as I thought it. Only a few people come up to me, and there have only been just a few articles in the papers. No one at school seems to care much anymore. I know my friend, Ino doesn't at least."

"It happens, your friend is probably just jealous."

"It's not like Ino to be jealous though."

Tenten held out a small box of powder-cover up. "For your face. It looks so badly bruised and maybe before your photoshoot I can take the redness down with this."

* * *

On Monday, Sakura ditched school. Lying to her parents about an odd stomach pain and the bruising in her face worked perfect enough to have her parents trust. She was given the entire day home-alone once more. She spent the first half of her day in front of the mirror. Taking a small marker that she had around, she wrote the word 'fat' upon each ounce of her body where she could grab at least a fistful. 

She didn't bother washing the markings off of her body and slipped into a thin, yet baggy, long-sleeved shirt and baggy pants. She didn't need everyone to stare at her disgusting body. Strolling the parks was a nice way to enjoy Konoha and lose a bit of weight. Sakura stopped every now and then at a magazine stands to see if there was any news that would intrest her, one magazine finally caught her eyes.

"What the...?" Sakura picked up the heavy magazine where a picture of her and Sasuke at the theater on the cover was shown with a headline saying '_Supermodels Superlovers_?' She blushed crimson and opened it to the page with all the photos and articles. It wouldn't surprise her if most of it was full of lies, maybe a quick note of how Sasuke entered the house with her when he dropped her off and maybe he went inside with her. She laughed at the thought. Media today.

The article was only two pages and had four images of them together then one of each of them separately. She was happy to see that the photos remained untouched and were not edited in any way to give off a certain look. The images were quite cute too. Seeing her and Sasuke walking together down the park or getting ready to see a movie made thoughts of more dates that would be caught in a camera, but then would come the scandals and possible outcomes of articles saying that one was cheating on the other. Sakura began to read the article. It skimmed over about who they where and possible reasons of why the two started dating and a long part about what they did. No where was a part that upset her nor was a lie. Sakura put the magazine away and continued walking. If Ino ever found out, she'd throw a fit.

When she arrived home shortly after school was out, the phone rang and she made it just in time to catch it before the answering machine.

"Hello?" She said, putting on a fake ill voice.

"Enjoyed your date I assume?" Ino said on the other line.

Sakura sighed away from the phone. "Yes. I did."

Silence was between the two of them for a brief moment before Ino began to lash out.

"You're just dating him to get publicity!"

"What brought this on?! I don't care if I get publicity or not and even if I was, I wouldn't date Sasuke to get it!"

Ino snorted on the other line. "Your lies are pathetic, Sakura. You only dated for publicity and you know _I'm_ the one he wants! He wants someone who actually has a nice body and _normal_ features!"

"Who's the one that's gone on a date with him? If you're the one he wants then why is he dating me?" She didn't add on to the topic of her looks.

"You're just a ladder! He's only working his way up to me! If it was actually a competition for his love and you and I were rivals, you know I'd win so stop acting like you've won."

Sakura's body began to shake with anger. "You know what...we're rivals from now on. We'll compete in this 'competition' for his love." She clicked the _talk_ button on her phone and slammed it down on the counter then ran to her room. Emotionally drained from such a petty argument. After calming down she stepped onto the scale, which was still at 107. Annoyed and depressed, Sakura punched her pillows in frustration and turned her music up as load as her body would tolerate the loud noise. Sakura took the same marker and wrote words of motivation on her body. _That which nourishes me destroys me _was written on her stomach. _There is no try. There is only do _went on her left arm. _A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips_ was written on her right leg. She continued to write on her body where the word 'fat' didn't already live.

"Orochimaru, if you could see me now...you'd be so happy." Sakura mumbled when she put the lid back on the marker. All over her body were words of hatred. With her camera, she quickly ran to her bathroom and took a look in the mirror. In her eyes, she looked sort of..._pretty_ with all the words on her skin. She quickly put on some underwear and held the camera up. "Think of it Sakura...Orochimaru will be happy to see you're hating yourself more, and you'll be happy to know he won't hurt you until the next time you disappoint him." She snapped a few photos of her body in different angles and poses.

Please with her work. Sakura set the camera down and put on her Martial Arts uniform. Training was in forty minutes and she wanted to drop off her film before practice.

"Sakura, what's wrong with your face? It's bruised all over. Were you in a fight?!" Lee studied her face with concerned eyes when she walked through the door.

Sakura looked away. "No, sorry Lee. I just had an accident. It'll heal eventually so there's nothing to worry about." She clasped her hands together. "So, I'm ready to train. Shall we get ready?"

Lee nodded enthusiastically and went on to the mats with her. Gai taught her the second half to the form she was learning and went over self-defence with Kin again. Having nothing to eat yet, Sakura was incredibly weak and asked for several water breaks. She moved slowly in her form from shortness in breath and though self-defence was the easy one, she had troubles grabbing and twisting Kin properly. Kin's complaints about Sakura's hands being cold only added on the irritation.

When class had ended and Sakura was packing up her bag, Lee tapped on her shoulder.

"There's something on your legs. It looks like writing."

She stood up fast and went red. "Sorry. My friends and I were writing things on ourselves for fun. I just haven't had anytime to wash it off yet." Sakura tugged at her pants in hope they'd cover a bit more skin. "I had to drop off my camera too. If I wanted the film done by the time I got out of practice, I had to skip the quick wash I would need to wash the marker off."

Lee blinked his eyes and looked at her with a confused facial expression. "Why were you writing on your body, Sakura?"

"It was just something we do every now and then. We write little quotes we've said and things like that." In her mind she agreed with herself that this was her best lie yet.

* * *

"I-I didn't know y-you were d-dating S-sasuke." Hinata squeaked as she held up her usual teen magazine. 

Sakura blushed. "We've only been on one date..."

"D-do you plan on g-going on a-another?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe I can ask him if he'd like to go out this...hello, Ino."

With her lunch tray, Ino stood behind Hinata as she prepared to sit down.

"Hinata...Sakura." Ino sat down and began to eat her lunch as she usually did. Minus the silence between the three girls, everything looked normal.

Sakura pulled out her tiny notebook and began to quickly jot down the numbers in the food she ate. "I'll see you in class, Hinata. There are some things I want to talk to Sasuke about before lunch is over."

Ino made a gag noise and Sakura glared.

"Y-you can just t-talk t-to him n-now..." Hinata pointed a tiny finger to the man two tables away.

"Oh. Well, I'll be right back." Sakura stood up from the table and rushed over to Sasuke.

It didn't take long for the two of them to be in deep conversation. Hinata continued to eat at the hot-lunch the school provided and ignored the open notebook on the other side. Ino smirked and took advantage of the notebook, shooting her hand across the table.

"I-ino! That's S-sakura's note b-book! Y-you sh-shouldn't d-do that!" Squeaked Hinata.

"Just a quick look." Ino's smirk grew as she peered inside the book.

**April 9th, 2007**

Breakfast - 114

Chicken sandwich - 88

Cream of chicken soup - 107

Total - 339

**April 10th, 2007**

Asian Chicken Salad - 332

2 Milk - 122

She flipped back to past pages and saw that Sakura had been counting her calorie intake for the past several months. Once or twice barely skimming over a thousand. In between months and weeks there were written words of hatred. Ino put the book back to it's original state and went back to eating. Cursing at Sakura for trying a new angle of attention. When Sakura returned for her things and said she'd see them later, Ino's growing hate for Sakura fired. She knew what she was doing, and Ino was not about to let all of the attention go to her.

* * *

"Lovely." Orochimaru gasped out over and over again as he looked at her photos. "You look so lovely in these...and you said you weighed 107 when you took these?" 

She nodded.

Orochimaru put the photos together in a neat pile and laid them on his desk. "Lovely...and I'm even more impressed with your new weight of 103. Stop bingeing so much and you'll be 100 in no time. This weekend if you're lucky." He looked around for a second then lifted up his head like he remembered something important. "You have a charity fashion show next weekend. Weighing 100 would be perfect."

"Oh? Where?" She said slightly happy.

"In town. It's for the homeless shelters." Orochimaru spoke with little interest in the show.

Sakura's green eyes blinked. "I see...I'll start practising right away." She excused herself from him and left the room. Hopefully this fashion show wouldn't end with her facing a near-rape experience. She shuddered at the thought.

"Are you heading home?"

She turned around and saw that Sasuke was behind her. His car keys in his right hand that crossed over his left and his body was supported against the long hallway.

"Pretty soon. Why do you ask?"

He shrugged. "I was thinking that I could drive you home, pick you up and take you to school tomorrow, and then drive you back up to the agency after school for our photoshoot. Kakashi and Rin won't leave me alone till I spend more time with you...I figured a car-ride would shut them up."

"O-oh, I'd love to ride home with you!" She happily replied, ignoring the loud noise her stomach made.

He smiled and walked with her down the hallway. She talked at a fast pace, rambling on about how she had been doing in the past few days and then asked how he was. It didn't surprise her when he replied with 'fine' and went back to little dialogue. Sakura asked him what Orochimaru talked to him about on the night of their date and once again, she wasn't surprise with the reply she was given. "Nothing."

As they neared the exit of the agency, Sasuke began to speak in a low voice. "Orochimaru...he's not touching you, is he?"

She shook her head. "Not in _that_ way...not since that night..."

"'Not in that way' you're saying he does touch you though?"

Sakura covered her mouth and turned scarlet. "N-no, he keeps to himself. He just...how are Rin and Kakashi doing?" She quickly spoke and picked up her walking pace.

"Don't change the subject on me, Sakura. I told you that I'd protect you..." His voice changed to a sympathetic boyfriend tone. "Does he touch you?"

"Not in that way...he caresses my neck sometimes...my shoulders...my head...areas in that upper area." She mumbled. "Why do you insist on protecting me? I can take care of myself."

"I know what Orochimaru does to his models...maybe it's that I don't want another to go through what Tayuya and I have suffered." He clenched his keys tighter.

"If he did try to do any of that stuff on me, you know I'd tell you." Sakura felt like she was in a small room. Enclosed with no windows and only enough room to sit down in. The hallways were large, spacious, and full of light. Opposite of Sakura's feeling. Her stomach growled again and black spots blurred her vision. She shook her head and continued on.

"Be sure that you do, Orochimaru is---are you alright?" He abandoned the discussion of Orochimaru and looked at Sakura's tipsy body.

She rubbed her temples. "Yeah, I just feel a little light-headed."

"You look pale..."

Sakura swayed her body and supported some of her weight onto the wall beside her. "I'm fine. Maybe I should get a glass of wa---" The black spots dominated her vision and blurred it completely. Sakura's body felt heavy. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she inhaled deeply before toppling over to her side, landing in Sasuke's arms. He barely caught her and fell to the ground by the force of her body pushing his. With hardly any difficulty, Sasuke brought his body up and held Sakura's fainted one in his arms. He softly patted her face, shook her, and whispered her name. When he was denied a reply, a small panic began to rise.

"Shit..." He cursed and ran to the nearest room. "Call an ambulance! She's fainted and isn't breathing!"

Tsunade and Tenten, who were in the room shot up to their feet. "What?!"

Sasuke put Sakura on the couch where they sat and checked her heart-rate. "She's not breathing, get an ambulance dammit!"

Tenten stood in fear at Sakura's pale body. Tsunade already had her cell phone out and was screaming at the operator that one of her models had passed out and wasn't breathing. When she hung up the phone she began to yell at Sasuke, hitting the back of his head, demanding that he preformed CPR on her. He did as he was told and compressed Sakura's chest. Tilted her head back and breathed air into her. Repeating that actions five times finally brought back Sakura's breathing. She did not awake and looked dead.

"Wh-why did she faint?" Gasped Tenten, still in fear.

"Because she's too thin." Tsunade snapped. "Orochimaru has been pushing his star-model again I see..."

Sasuke sighed and shook his head. Orochimaru had touched her in ways she was not revealing. He was failing to protect her. "Do you see that?" He asked, leaning closer to her nose. "It looks like powder."

Tenten's body jolted. "Makeup powder most likely." She frantically pushed Sasuke aside and with a cloth wiped away the powder on Sakura's nostrils. "N-nothing to worry about."

"I'm going to kill Orochimaru...and where the hell is that ambulance?!"

* * *

Author's notes - Sakura is finally getting 'too-thin', Sasuke is caring more for Sakura, and Ino's showing her true colours. The whole deal of Sakura writing on herself was actually inspired by a photo I found of a girl who had words like that on her skin. I loved the idea of it...it's intresting. Since it'll be a while before I am able to read the reviews can you give detailed reviews for me, please? (Laughs nervously) I appreciate every review that comes in but the 'update soon' ones make me wonder if they even read it sometimes...any thoughts that you feel towards this story would be much loved. 

**Preview in thanks for giving me over four hundred reviews! **

"If you two don't mind, I'd like to have a word with Sakura alone. You two can come back in when we're finished. It won't take long." Tsunade stood up and made a 'shoo' motion with her hands. Sasuke and Tenten left the room without any objection, and when it was certain they were gone, Tsunade sat back down.

"There are some things I'd like to clear up with you." She crossed her legs over one another and placed her hands in her lap.

Sakura pulled the foam cup away from her lips and swallowed the water. "L-like what?"

_I'm sure it's obvious what Tsunade wants to talk about...but how will Sakura handle it? (dramatic/cheesy music) _

Thank you for reading.


	14. Ino's Disease

Disclaimer - I do not own...yes, yes, we know.

Author's notes - I thank so many of you who took the time to write me a nice long review for the story and let me know how you were feeling towards it. (Hopefully you'll keep it more then just an 'update soon' from now on, lol.) The last chapter had _57 reviews_! (hugs all reviewers) you guys are amazing! And on a side note; _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_ came out! I was so excited, I stood in line like all the other Harry Potter freaks, lol. It was so fun! I don't care if Harry gets with --------- I'm still a big support of Pumpkin Pie. So (ahem) yes, erm, here's the next chapter. (Oh and _Happy Birthday, Sasuke_)

* * *

With much difficulty, Sakura opened her eyes. The white room she awoke in hurt her eyes and she immediately shut them again and made a small noise of discomfort before opening them more slowly. When her vision cleared up she saw three people sitting in front of her. Tsunade, Tenten, and Sasuke. Her eyes moved around the room and saw items that was familiar from television shows she had seen. A large window that was covered by egg-white blinds, two small chairs, minus the ones that her three visitors were in. A tall brown wardrobe and flowers on a nearby shelf. Somehow, she had landed herself in the hospital. 

"Are you alright, Sakura?" Asked a highly concerned Tenten. "The ambulance took forever to arrive...we were afraid you wouldn't make it."

Sakura brought the bed up so she was sitting up and rubbed her eyes. "I'm alright. Could I have a glass of water?"

Tenten nodded and rushed out the room to find the nearest water fountain. She came back a few seconds later with the water and sat back in her chair uncomfortably. Tenten quickly glanced at Sasuke then back to Sakura. Her body shaking furiously

"If you two don't mind, I'd like to have a word with Sakura alone. You two can come back in when we're finished. It won't take long." Tsunade stood up and made a 'shoo' motion with her hands. Sasuke and Tenten left the room without any objection, and when it was certain they were gone, Tsunade sat back down.

"There are some things I'd like to clear up with you." She crossed her legs over one another and placed her hands in her lap.

Sakura pulled the foam cup away from her lips and swallowed the water. "L-like what?"

"Like your weight for example. You're getting too thin, Sakura. I like my models to look healthy and have at least _some_ meat or curve. When I first met you, you were beautiful. Your face was still showing a look of innocence. Your body just needed to hit the gym once or twice a week to put some tone on it, but other then that, it was beautiful." She paused for a minute before continuing on. "Is this modeling too much for you? The pressure of being a teenager and carrying on a regular life is already hard enough. So I'm sure being a model only adds on. Unless..." Tsunade's light brown eyes ran up and down Sakura's body. "It's not the stress of being a model that's causing your weight loss...Can you explain your recent weight loss to me?" Tsunade raised one of her thin eyebrows and tapped her cherry painted fingernails on her skin.

_Tsunade thinks I'm 'too-thin'? Are you kidding me? Ino weighs less then me and she's the exact same height. Why don't you go bitch to her for a little while! I'm sure she'd love the attention! Too thin...you make me laugh! "_People loose weight." Sakura said confidently. "It happens all the time. Orochimaru thinks I look...fine. And I'm always getting compliments that I look 'just right.' There's nothing to worry about, Tsunade. I can promise that."

Tsunade cocked an eyebrow. "You are certain that there is nothing you're hiding from me? Weight related or not?"

She shook her head. "No, Tsunade. I can assure you that there is _nothing_ wrong with me."

"You know that if there is ever a problem going on, as long as I'm not asleep, feel free to come in and talk to me." She patted Sakura's head and yelled for Sasuke and Tenten to return.

The two models returned back to the room as fast as they left. They sat with Sakura and asked how she was feeling at least a dozen times. Tenten soon had to leave, and as she wrapped her arms around Sakura's neck in a good-bye hug, she quickly whispered, "there was a bit of cocaine underneath your noise. Sasuke almost caught on...I covered for you." She thanked Tenten and waved good-bye to her as she left the room. Tsunade and Sasuke were the only two left, and were barely speaking. It slightly bored her and she sighed often for them to catch the hint of her boredom. Another hour or so when by before Tsunade's husband came by to pick her up for a fancy dinner, she left without 'get well soon' or recovery messages. A simple 'I'll see you at the fashion show' was given. Now, once more she was alone with Sasuke.

Sakura sucked on the foam cup given to her that was now empty and studied the room. Boredom continued to grow between the two. Several times she had thought of topic starters. Nothing he would ever be interested in though.

"How are you feeling?" He finally spoke.

Her attention was caught and she felt a little bit of life in her body that wasn't there when Tenten and Tsunade were visiting. "Better...my head feels really heavy though." Sakura eyes were then drawn to the bouquets of flowers on the shelf. "Who brought me those flowers?"

Sasuke turned his head. "The pink daises are from Tenten and Kakashi and Rin gave you the Lilies."

"What about the Peach Blossom?" She admired the beauty of the Peach Blossom, and was hoping from deep down it was from him.

"Kakashi insisted that I gave you a flower..." He muttered.

_So it is from Sasuke! _"Thank you." She said happily.

He didn't reply and there was a long silence between them. Sakura sighed. She was growing tired of having long pauses between her and Sasuke.

"Have you ever fainted before?" She asked.

"No."

"Hospitalized?"

Sasuke brought his hands into fists. "Once."

"Why?" She asked, curiously.

"When my brother killed my family. I stumbled out of my house and wandered down the street, calling for help. The man that found me took me to the hospital and asked me what had happened. He then called the police after he had enough information and sent them over to my home." Sasuke glanced at the Peach Blossom. "My mother had somehow managed to stay alive, even with my father's corpse upon her. And we were both hospitalized for trauma and serious injuries."

Sakura's was near speechless. "Th-then what happened to your mother?"

"She died fifteen minutes after being admitted."

"And...they never caught your brother?"

He shook his head and stood up. "No. He's still out there."

Sakura sighed. "Sasuke...why do you always keep to yourself and hardly say anything at all? Are you afraid of becoming close to someone in fear of losing them? Is the...murder of your family...the cause of it?"

"Hn..." Sasuke looked away from her. "You're annoying."

There was a knock at the door and then a short nurse walked into the room. "Excuse me, the patient has a weigh-in now due to a parental concern." She reached her hand out for Sakura to grab on to for stability. "Your girlfriend will be right back, don't worry." The nurse winked, walking her out of the room.

* * *

At school on the following Tuesday, Sakura sat in her usual seat in the cafeteria. Hinata was reading her usual magazine which Sakura had stopped reading since she started modeling. Sakura had no time to read the magazines anyway. Finals were in a month and Iruka-Sensei had given them a pop quiz this morning to see how they were coming along. There wasn't any sign of Ino until lunch-break was half-way over. When she arrived, she sat down with a small salad. 

"H-hello I-Ino." Chirped Hinata.

Sakura stayed silent and continued to write down the calories she ate in the one strawberry she ate for lunch.

Ino sighed dramatically and stared at her plate. "I'm so fat! Why am I thinking of eating? I'm just so fat!" Ino picked up her plastic fork and began to stab the foam plate where her salad was. "Fat, fat, fat! Did you know that just one cup of my salad is sixty-two calories!" Ino said loudly that the tables in the area could hear her.

Hinata's eyes grew to an alarming size and she sat in her seat stunned. Her body shaking all over. Sakura's attention was also caught to Ino. Her heart felt like it skipped two beats as Ino continued to critique herself and complain about the food. Other students were also stunned by this outburst from Ino and most of the girls in their class and more then half of the boys rushed over to their table to comfort her. Sakura and Hinata were instantly squished between other students who tried to comfort Ino and tell her that she wasn't fat and that she had to be the skinniest person in the entire school. With much difficulty, Sakura was able to slip underneath the seat where she sat and crawl out from under the table just before the crowd grew bigger.

She stood up and brushed her clothing off from the dirt that was on the floor below her. She didn't say a word as she walked away from the crowd, Sakura would rather not be crushed. _It's all show...if Ino was really obsessed like that, she wouldn't share it to the world. As diet obsessed Ino is, she would never go that low, and if she did...she wouldn't say it for the entire world to hear her. What brought this on anyway? _Sakura stopped in her tracks. _My calorie counter! She must have seen what was inside it when I went to talk to Sasuke last week! That little...who knew you'd sink so low for attention, Ino! More then anything, you have no idea what it's like to wake up each morning and hate yourself!_

"What's with the crowd?" Sasuke said, calmly walking over to her.

"Ino found a new way to get attention." She mumbled as she crossed her arms. "I'm going outside...I don't want to see her play it up."

Sasuke looked over at Ino, who was dramatically pulling at inches of her skin and critiquing herself. "And they don't know it's just for attention?"

"She's overacting the self-hate...so you'd think so..."

"How do you know she's overacting?" He asked.

"I...I watched a documentary on low-self esteem. If she hated the way she looked, she wouldn't be sharing it out to the world unless it was a desperate cry for some attention." Sakura said matter-of-factly and then shrugged her shoulders. "That's Ino for you though."

Sasuke glanced back over at Ino again and turned around. "Annoying..."

Sakura smiled. At least he agreed with her on that.

After lunch, school went on regularly through the rest of the day and nearly everyone had forgotten about Ino's little 'self-hate' moment, including Ino. Iruka-Sensei had began handing out the tests and Sakura waited impatiently for hers. She didn't feel to confident on this test and was certain she had at least five questions wrong. Iruka-Sensei turned over Sakura's test on her desk and bent down. "Sakura, I want to discuss your grades with you after school..." He gave her a reassuring smile before standing back up to finish handing out the tests.

Scared as could be, Sakura flipped over her test and saw her grade. F. Her first failing grade ever, and on something so simple to. _F? How did this happen? Iruka-Sensei must have graded my paper wrong...there's just no way I could have failed this test. Maybe it's just a joke...like he's testing me or something, I couldn't have failed this! _She glanced over to Ino's desk, who's smug facial expression only declared that she had to have a B or A grade. Hinata even looked please with herself. _I'm sure even Naruto has a C...this isn't right. I can get every answer on this test right. Why did I fail?!_

When the ball rang for the end of school just a few minutes later, Sakura stayed in her chair and watched everyone leave. When Naruto finally left the room, Sakura timidly walked over to Iruka-Sensei's desk. Her failing test in hand.

"Sakura, I'd like to discuss your recent grades with you." Iruka-Sensei pulled out a small pile of papers. "You used to be one of my top students...now...well, you're worse then Naruto." He handed her a test. "This test is from five months ago. A+. Here's another from three months ago...C. Sakura, why are all the things you hand into me failing grades?" He handed a few more papers and tests she had completed and failed.

"I don't know why...I've been having friend problems with Ino. Could that be a cause of it?"

Iruka-Sensei thought for a moment. "It could...but her grades have stayed still since the beginning of the year. I know you're a model, do you think that the stress from working could be more of the cause then friend problems?"

She shook her head. "No. It's not the modeling. My friend problems are the only thing I can really think of...I'll work on improving them before finals. I promise."

"Finals are one month away...do you think you can bring your grades up by then? Mitirashi-Sensei also says your P.E. grades have dropped slightly. You're taking more time to catch your breath then do the laps, she says."

"I'll study extra hard and I do a lot of working out a week...the energy is drained from me so quickly now because of that. I'm just at the stage of weakness by doing a simple task. In no time I'll be running in front again." She said confidently.

Iruka-Sensei put her papers into a folder. "I'm always here in case you need a tutor and Mitirashi-Sensei she'll gladly help you after school in P.E. as well."

"Thank you for your concern, Sensei." Sakura bowed her head in respect and stood up. "When do teachers find the time to discuss their students anyway?" She added with a small giggle.

"Wha?!" The familiar blush appeared of Iruka-Sensei's face. "Mitirashi-Sensei and I talk in the Sensei's Lounge just like all the others!"

"In the Sensei's Lounge?" Sakura covered her mouth and continued to giggle.

"Miss Haruno!" Iruka-Sensei held up a finger in warning.

Sakura turned around, still giggling like mad and began to walk away. "Of course, Sensei."

* * *

"What are these?" Sakura asked, examining the plate of chocolate sweets Sasuke held in front of her. 

"Brownies...Rin baked them and wanted me to give them to you..."

She smiled and took the plate, setting it down on the coffee table beside them. "Tell her I say thank you. That was very thoughtful of her." She brushed her hands together and glanced at the brownies, then to Sasuke. She was less then thrilled that he had given her sweets, and hopefully a change in subject would put her mind off of them. "Would you like to see a movie after the show? There's...that new horror that just came out last weekend...I heard it was good...I think you'll like it."

"Sure..."

Sakura's smile grew and picked up a newspaper that had been left on her table. "Um...it looks like we can make it to the ten o'clock show if we don't make any side trips." She looked back at Sasuke and folded the newspaper without looking back at it. "What's wrong?" Sakura studied Sasuke's stern face.

"Nothing." Sasuke glanced at the brownies and then to Sakura. "Rin wants the plate back as soon as possible..."

"Oh...I'll eat them after the show. You know...that way we can save some money on sweets at the movies since I'll be full, and my stomach won't look bloated when I'm on the runway!" She laughed lightly and gave a nervous smile. "I should probably go change...Tenten will want to get some chatting down while we're backstage and she can talk for a really long time. I'll see you afterwards." She walked away, waving one of her hands.

"Be safe..." Sasuke mumbled.

With Tenten, Sakura was talking constantly and fast as their hair and makeup was done. Changing and talking as fast as they could was no problem at all between the girls. Exchanging compliments and denying the way they looked was easier. Sakura didn't spot Sasuke among the men in their changing room and was upset to find out that he would not be participating in this show.

Music started playing and Sakura lined up behind Tenten. She pulled for the jeans to rest around her hips as she waited in line and exhaled deeply with each step she took to be closer.

"And let's have a round of applause for Miss Haruno, who is wearing Tsunade's latest Denim design for Fall." The announcer said in commercial tone of voice.

Sakura placed one hand on her hips and swayed down the runway. She kept a light bounce to keep up with the music and feeling of the clothing and at the end of the runway she struck two poses and saw Sasuke only inches in front of her. She turned around and headed back down the runway, embarrassed as could be knowing that Sasuke could see the fat on her ass squish between the jeans.

The second outfit she wore was a pale pink summer dress with a matching hand purse. She adored the dress, but hated it when she saw she was wearing a size three. When announcer called out Sakura again, she walked down with a more elegant walk. She gave a flirtatious smile at the end and twirled around twice when she turned around to head back to the changing room.

Unlike her first fashion show, this one was short and she only had to wear two outfits. The final walk was quick and everyone had finished in no time. She grew wise from her past experience and changed in the back with Tenten and a few other girls.

"It's been a while since I've weighed you, Haruno." Orochimaru's familiar chilling voice crept up and down her spine. She felt his fingers reach up and play with her hair, which made the chills run faster and faster. "Sasuke will understand that you need to hold off the date for just a few more minutes...come..."

Sakura bit her lip and followed Orochimaru to what looked like a Mother's Nursing Room. In the center was the usual scale and with fear, she stepped on.

"What does it say?" He whispered.

"98lbs..." She said with slight happiness in her voice.

"98? Oh, Sakura, I'm so proud of you. I can almost call you beautiful...but we can shed a few more pounds, can't we? 95 is all the better...and if you don't slip up tonight at the movies, you might just make that weight in a few days."

"I...I went today without eating." She whispered. "I know we're only seventeen hours into the day, but if you count from how many hours I did _not _eat. It totals to twenty-four hours."

Orochimaru smiled and walked over to a nearby desk, pulled out his checkbook and scribbled down Sakura's name and the sum amount he was going to pay her. "Good girl." He said as he handed her the paper. "Put your clothes back on and enjoy the film...just don't pig out while you're there."

She took the check and folded it in half before shoving it into her pants pocket. _Stupid Sakura..._She told herself. _You'll pig out...and you know it..._When Sakura returned to the room where Sasuke had given her the brownies, she was more then tempted to try one. _No!_ She screamed at herself. _You don't need it! Remember all that hard work you put in to finally reach 98 and make Orochimaru so happy!_ Sakura picked up the brownies and walked over to the trash can and dumped everything on the plate inside.

"Ready?" Sakura asked when she found Sasuke leaning against a wall near the exit of the building.

He nodded and opened the door for her. "Where are the brownies Rin baked?"

Sakura gulped and smiled. "Sorry. I ate them with a few of the girls. I'll go get the plate right now."

* * *

Author's notes - Ugh, this chapter was impossible for me to write! But, all in all, I'm very happy with the outcome of it. Sasuke is really starting to show that he cares for Sakura, which means any chapter now he'll confess his love for her and with Ino acting as a 'Wannarexic' Sakura will crack and start yelling at her for her fake act in no time. You'll just have to wait until chapter fifteen to see what happens to our lovely couple. Also, thank you to those of you who write the nice long lovely reviews. They made me feel good about my writing for a change. 

_In thanks for nearly sixty reviews in a chapter and almost hitting fivehundred..._

**" **She cocked an eyebrow. "What have you eaten today?"

"I didn't have breakfast, but I ate a chicken sandwhich and...had a coke with it as well a brownie from Sasuke." She quickly lied. Sakura was proud of herself with how well her lies were now flowing from her mouth.

Tsunade crossed her arms and frowned. "I'm going to start weighing all of my models in front of me every other week to see if they meet my standerds. If you weigh too much below the required weight, you know that you'll be forced to take a leave of absense." **"**

Thank you for reading.


	15. A new drug user

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto. Blah blah blah...we get it.

Author's notes - I know it's not the first yet, but I'd like to post as a celebration. For my friends birthday -- now C_razed16yearold_ -- for the fact that I've finally settled into my house, and that I made it through my first week of High School. (Claps like an idiot) Enjoy the chapter!

Next chapter - _Reverse pshycology_

* * *

Sasuke was kind enough to buy Sakura's tickets when they arrived at the theater. She didn't bother to disagree with him on payment and silently promised that she'd buy him the popcorn and drinks if he wanted one. If he denied a drink or snake, she made a second silent promise to pay for their next date no matter how expensive it was. 

"Are you thirsty?" She asked, pulling out her tiny wallet. "I'll get you something to eat and drink during the movie."

"Just a soda..." He replied.

Sakura paid for two sodas (one diet and caffeine free, and the other non) and held the freezing drinks in her hands until they found a good seat. Whenever she went to the movies with Ino and Hinata, the three of them usually grabbed a seat in the middle of the theater. Good eyesight and comfortable settings. With Sasuke, he took a seat in the third row in the middle.

"With all the gore, are you sure you want to sit so close?" She asked, slightly frightened of how good her view was going to be. "Won't you get a little scared?" She handed him is drink and unwillingly took a seat next to him.

He took his drink and set it in its holder. "I'm used to blood...and it's just a movie. Nothing in it will ever happen."

Sakura took a sip of her soda and smiled.

Fake or not, the movie had scared Sakura half to death. Within fifteen minutes three people had been violently murdered, corpses and pools of blood were everywhere. A second couldn't go by in the movie where someone was cursing or screaming in pain and fear for someone to help them. Sakura clenched her fists as the movie went deeper in and felt ice-cold in a hot theater room. It was impossible to concentrate on the thin actresses when they were being mutilated. She hardly blinked when someone was about to die and felt sick to her stomach each time another was killed.

"It's just a movie, Sakura..." Sasuke whispered in her ear. "You won't die this way."

"I-I know..." She whispered back. "It's just scary, that's all." Slowly, she reached her hand over the armrest and grabbed onto Sasuke's free hand for support when she was scared.

When the movie ended two and half hours later, Sakura and Sasuke were the last to walk out of the theater. Sakura's entire body pale and her legs numb and limp as could be. Her inner thoughts laughed at herself about how dumb she must've looked in the theater whenever she jumped, screamed slightly, or buried her face into her palms.

"You look pale." Sasuke pointed out after the two of them took a seat in the restaurant connected to the theater. "I'll get you something to eat."

"No. It's alright." She grabbed onto Sasuke's shirt when he stood up. "The gore just got to me. I'm fine, really. Besides, I did eat all those brownies just before I came here. I'm still full from eating them all."

Sasuke's eyes drifted from Sakura's pale hand then back up to her face of desperation for him not to go. And without argument, he sat back down and tried to ignore random fans that had walked up to them and begged for an autograph and photo. Sasuke brushed everything off with ease, but Sakura was obviously still knew to the fandom world and grew easily tired of writing her name on every sheet of paper given to her.

"Tonight was nice. I hope we can go out again soon." Sakura said happily as Sasuke walked her up to the steps of her house. "Maybe somewhere more romantic and private from fans." She added as a light joke. "Next weekend possibly?"

"Alright." He nodded his head.

Sakura smiled and wrapped her arms around Sasuke's shoulders. "Good night." She pulled away from him and gave another cheerful smile before being pulled back into Sasuke's arms. Her heart skipped a beat when she finally realized that her lips were in contact with Sasuke's. His hands rested on her hips as he kissed her softly and not once did they slip down. The setting couldn't have been more perfect; moonlight over their heads, no one there to see and make a scandal or comment, and the warm weather just added everything all together.

"Good night." He said after he pulled away from her and walked back to his car.

"Night..." She said quietly before clumsily sticking her house key into the lock and opening her door.

Sakura slipped out of her light jacket she brought with her and walked over to the phone. There were no unread messages and she decided to go to sleep, despite it being only nine thirty. She giggled furiously when she laid down on her bed. _I've gone a whole day without eating...Orochimaru is pleased with me...Sasuke and I have shared our first kiss...things are going perfect for a change._

Thankful that it was Sunday, Sakura took the advantage and slept in until two thirty the next day. When she finally awoke, she showered after reading a book for a few minutes.

As Sakura showered, her happy mood from the night before had changed to concern and slight disturbance. The hair that had mysteriously grown over her body was becoming thicker and darker. The hair on the top of her head was coming out in larger clumps was starting to clog up her drain. She felt like a man with the amount of hair that had grown over her body in the mast several months and once again was feeling ugly.

She was highly aware that an Eating Disorder was the cause of her hair problems. She was just highly _un_aware on how to hide it. With Summer slipping through any day now, she knew her secret would be exposed in no time.

* * *

Through the next few remaining weeks of school Sakura had managed to bring every failing grade up to a B. Iruka-Sensei was highly impressed her grades raising so high and flaunted it off to a few failing students. Ino's 'hate' towards herself continued nearly every lunch break and by the second week of her act, Sakura stopped sitting with her and Hinata. Everyone had questioned about Ino's weight and it was the biggest thing going on at the time. It drove Sakura slightly mad to walk down the hallways and hear people going on about how Ino might be an Anorexic/Bulimic. Though she was happy to hear rumors about Ino being passed around then of Sakura who, according to the papers, had already had sex with Sasuke and was out-late every weekend partying with him and a few other famous celebrities. Her bodings with Sasuke had grown over the weeks and after their third date Sasuke had asked her to be his girlfriend. Ecstatic and red, she agreed to it without any second thoughts. By the time that news had leaked out, Ino's acts become frequent before and after school too and was seen in the gym running slow laps while others went home. Sakura's weight had rested at 98 for three weeks before jumping back up to 103. Lessons with Gai and Lee helped with that, and finally reaching 98lbs again, she was granted up to Orange belt, the next level. 

"...Hopefully you all will make the right choices during your Summer break and do something productive other than play video games all day, Naruto! I wish my three students that are models good luck with their careers." Iruka-Sensei smiled as he continued with his famous year-end speech. "Have a wonderful Summer, class."

The bell rang not a second after he finished his speech and the classroom was empty just a few minutes later.

Sakura's arms were tightly wrapped around Hinata's body. "We'll have to get together some day...you, Naruto, Sasuke, and I." She always grew emotional around the end of the school year. "We'll group date or go to one of the upcoming fairs."

"O-of course!" Squeaked out Hinata.

They said their goodbyes for the day and Hinata left with Naruto by her side. Sakura was finishing packing her book-bag when Sasuke then came up to her.

"Kakashi...wanted me to invite you over tonight. He and Rin are having a BBQ for celebration of my top marks...and...wants to know if you can come." He said cooly. "I can take you to my house from here if you'd like."

She smiled. "I'd love to come." It wasn't true. Sakura's mind was mentally slapping herself once she agreed. Kakashi seemed one who would try to fatten her up and make her eat as much as she could before she vomited.

Arriving at Sasuke's house a few hours later, Sakura was stunned to see that she was not the only one there. Naruto, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, and Shino from class where there as well Hinata. It was unlike Sasuke to have so many people with him at once. The scene looked natural though. Shikamaru was laying on a green patch of grass, watching the clouds go by. Shino was by Shikamaru, watching a group of ants carry a fallen piece of bread to their colony. Chouji was waiting by the grill where Rin was cooking. Impatient for the ribs to cook which she had just set down on the rack. Kiba and Naruto were talking to Sasuke, who was looking highly annoyed.

"O-oh! Sakura. I-it's g-good to se-e that I won't be th-the only fe-female." Hinata squeaked.

Sakura took a seat next to Hinata. "I didn't think there would be so many people."

"That's because I _made_ Sasuke invite them." Kakashi's voice came from behind the two girls, which caused Hinata to jump. "I'm sure he would have just liked it if it was only you, Sakura. But then it would be too quiet...hm...it looks like inviting Naruto and Kiba made the noise level go up a bit." He glanced over at the boys who were still talking loudly to Sasuke.

The two girls laughed.

"Kakashi, how long have you been dating Rin?" Sakura asked, swinging her body around to look at him better. Hinata turned pink at the mention of the word _date_.

He smiled and scratched the back of his head. "I honestly don't know. It's been a long time." Kakashi brought his head up and admired Rin, who was fighting Chouji away from the grill, and smiled. "I've only dated four women in my life...when I met her I knew she was the one for me."

Sakura and Hinata gave romantic and dreamy sighs.

"You're dating...Naruto...isn't that right, Hinata?" Kakashi asked, turning his attention to a cherry Hinata.

"Y-yes!...Sakura a-and our friend I-Ino set us u-up to-gether..." She squeaked out, wiggling her two index fingers together.

"That's nice..." He turned his head to Sakura. "And just recently I found out that Sasuke and you officially became girlfriend and boyfriend."

Sakura blinked. "Where did you find that out?" It wasn't like Sasuke to talk or share any information.

"The magazines held an article about the two of you together. Where they had audio proof of Sasuke saying that you were his girlfriend." Kakashi grinned. "I'm so happy for him. It's about time he got a girlfriend."

Sasuke was still trying to get away from Kiba and Naruto who were still bothering him about something pointless. Naruto looked highly excited about the topic and was laughing at Sasuke as he walked away. It must have been about the latest news of him finally getting a girlfriend and sharing a few kisses with her. Did men tease each other like that? She wasn't sure.

"Everything is ready!" Rin cried out, smacking Chouji's hand which had reached for a few buns. "Line up and I'll give you your food."

In no time, every one had lined up beside Rin and waited impatiently for the hamburgers she had finished cooking. Putting on the extra toppings that they requested and heading off afterwards for their drinks.

"What will you take, Sakura?" She asked, placing the patty onto his bun.

"Um..cheese...ketchup...and lettuce.." Sakura said with shame. Staring at Rin's stomach, it appeared to be larger as well the rest of certain areas around her body. Sakura was slightly disturbed with Rin's gain, especially in the stomach.

Rin prepared the hamburger for Sakura in no time and smiled as she handed Sakura her food. "There are drinks at the picnic table if you get thirsty."

"Thanks..." She took her food and sat down on a pile on green grass and stared at her food. The others ate with gluttony in their eyes as they shoved their food down their throats and gulped down their non-diet sodas. Her hamburger made her want to vomit. The cheese was melted on to the patty and ketchup and lettuce slipped from the sides. Sakura shivered and continued to stare at her meal.

Footsteps came up behind Sakura and she heard the sound of someone smirking. "Hungry?" Sasuke said.

She set down the hamburger. "Not really...Orochimaru has me on a strict...diet...I can only eat certain things at certain times of the day. It's really helpful. I dropped a pant size and...you aren't even listening are you?"

Sasuke blinked his eyes. "Diet?"

"Yes."

He raised his eyebrow. "You don't seem like the type who would diet..."

She lifted her shoulders then dropped them fast. "I don't seem like a lot of things." Sakura glanced at her hamburger then picked it up. "I suppose it would be okay...Rin looked like she was having trouble cooking these with Chouji trying to sneak some..." Breathing deeply, Sakura bit into the hamburger and chewed it. Her mind screamed in pain as she chewed, feeling the meat and other contents mix around in her mouth, the fat from the patty and the juices of it slipping down her throat. "Tasty." She lied after she finished swallowing the first bite.

Sasuke lowered his eyebrow and sat down next to her with his own plate. "When this is over...I want you to stay a bit afterwards..."

"Alright..."

Another hour had slipped by before Sasuke and Sakura were the only two left. Hinata and Sakura said quick goodbyes again before she left with Naruto and after sending Kiba away with his older sister, Hana, the two were left with Kakashi and Rin.

They were no longer sitting on the grass, but had moved to the picnic table by all the sodas which had now begun to be swarmed by flies. Rin and Kakashi were cleaning up as they sat on at the table in silence. Sakura feeling sick to her stomach from eating the burger and fat.

"Why did you want me to stay afterwards?" Sakura asked, looking around.

Sasuke didn't reply right away. She didn't expect him to either.

"I haven't asked much...but...Orochimaru..." He said slowly, drifting from a few words and sentences.

"He's not doing anything." She said quickly. "Not once has he touched me in any way...and Orochimaru never brings anything from that night. Behind that door is just a simple discussion of my progression as a model." It wasn't exactly the truth, but neither was it a full lie.

Sasuke thought on what she had said and then looked away from her. "Hm..."

He took her home after that and they said simple good nights. She had hugged him, but there had been no kiss. Sakura took no extra time when she got home. Immediately she went up to her bedroom, locked the door and turned on some music. Sakura then began to do all the material Gai-Sensei had taught her in class and the many workouts they had done for warmups. She spent the next ninety minutes on that before collapsing on her bed, exhausted.

"If I do this every other night..." She gasped to herself. "I should be able to lose something..."

* * *

"What's my photo shoot today?" Sakura asked, walking into the her usual shooting room. 

Tsunade pulled herself away from a deep conversation she was sharing with Jiraiya and smiled. "It's a makeup add. For my new line of coverup that is coming out next week. I wanted you to be the fresh face for it."

Sakura beamed proudly and quickly changed into her wardrobe and had Tsunade's new makeup set plastered over her face. Sakura wasn't sure if putting her in a bright yellow sundress while wearing makeup that was more green-ish wasn't the best match. Tsunade was the fashion expert anyway. After grabbing one of the few props she'd be using (the first being a beach ball, the second a hula-Hoop, and the third being a small bouquet of flowers.) Sakura began to model out for the makeup. Most of the attention would be drawn to her face and it was slightly difficult for her to pose good with her face. Personally to her, it was her most difficult shoot yet.

"Beautiful Sakura, just bring in your hips a little...Yes. Just like that. Perfect." Jiraiya complimented her body often whenever she was shooting film. "Gorgeous!" He said again after taking another shoot. He smiled and pulled his face away from his camera. "Tsunade will be pleased with this film."

"Can I have a word with you?" Tsunade asked, pulling Sakura's arm before she was able to change back into her regular clothes. "Your weight. What is it?"

"I-I don't know...I don't have a scale so I'm never able to weigh myself." Sakura stuttered in fear of Tsunade.

She cocked an eyebrow. "What have you eaten today?"

"I didn't have breakfast, but I ate a chicken sandwich and...had a coke with it as well a brownie from Sasuke." She quickly lied. Sakura was proud of herself with how well her lies were now flowing from her mouth.

Tsunade crossed her arms and frowned. "I'm going to start weighing all of my models in front of me every other week to see if they meet my standards. If you weigh too much below the required weight, you know that you'll be forced to take a leave of absence."

"Don't worry." Sakura backed away from Tsunade a bit. "I'll never have to take a leave. I promise that my weight will always be in the needed area. My mom has a nutritionist to keep sure of that and my Martial Arts classes are keeping in shape as well."

After finishing the discussion with Tsunade, Sakura walked out of the photography room and down the hall to Tenten's room. Days had gone by since they last talked and she was feeling extremely guilty for that.

"Tenten?" Sakura knocked on the door and peered in.

"Sakura! It's been a while." Tenten smiled and immediately wrapped her arms around Sakura's tiny body. "You look so beautiful and _thin_."

"You're looking really thin yourself. Dieting much lately?"

Tenten closed her door. "I suppose you can call it that...I was just about to do...you know...care to join me?" She pointed to her coffee table and gave a nervous smile.

"It's been a while since I've done any. Two weeks...I had to bring my grades up and drugs weren't helping. It was terrible though, I always wanted to do them when I got really depressed or stressed..."

Sitting down, Tenten grabbed an extra mirror. "Summer break just started. Orochimaru will give you the cocaine for sure."

"What?" Sakura whipped her head to the side. "You get them from Orochimaru?"

"Yes. Just recently though. I used to have to drive down to the slums of town to get them..." She opened up the bag and delicately placed three lines on the mirrors. "You can ask him after we finish if you want. He favors you and Sasuke...so I'm sure getting it won't be an issue at all." Tenten then smiled and began to snort up the cocaine.

Sakura was not far behind her and began to snort up her own rows.

The two giggly girls laughed once the drugs had begun to take effect on their minds. Laughing and saying the weirdest things. Tenten laughed loudly as she kicked her legs around and dropped her body onto Sakuras' and began to roll around on her lap. The two girls had so much experience with the Cocaine it was no longer knocking them out, but giving them more of a peppy vibe.

The sound of a door opening stopped the loud laughter of the girls for only a brief moment as they went to soft giggles. Tenten had forgotten to lock the door, and made humor from it.

"Hello!" They both laughed.

Sasuke stood in the door way. His eyes full of no emotion as usual and a small black case in one of his hands. "I knew you were doing them Tenten..." He closed the door and locked it. "Sakura though...I'm surprised..." He took a seat across from the girls who were looking at Sasuke with bouncy faces. The black case was opened in front of the girls to reveal a needle and a long rubber band wrap that used in Hospitals. "The three of us seem to be the only ones..." He wrapped the rubber around his arm and flexed almost as if he was drawing blood then stuck the needle into his arm and injected the contents.

* * *

Author's notes - Thankfully this chapter is really long compared to the last one I gave you. So (dramatic gasp) can you believe Sasuke is doing drugs? (Shakes head) Can you believe that? Hm...I'm still thinking of a new twist for the story...maybe Kakashi should pop the question to Rin...or Orochimaru should hit on Sasuke or Sakura again...I have no clue what I am going to do next, lol. I wish I had a better idea of what being a model was like. And to _Craz_ - I'm so sorry to hear about what's going on. You have my undying support and love for that. 

--- We're almost at episode 109 in America! I'm excited! I'm very fond of Kate and Yuri's voices so I hope they do a good job with the scene. ---

Thank you for reading


	16. Reverse Pshycology

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Author's notes - Someone left a review saying that my story didn't match with my summary and that I probably didn't even know where the story was going. No disrespect to that review writer, but you are wrong. I had two similar plots set out for this story. I decided to go with the second plot, so I _changed_ my summary a little over a month ago. And as for the end of the story, wrong again. I **do** know where this story is going. I have the last chapter already written with a tie up with each character that played an important piece. If your really have an issue with my story then send a PM and give a good description of _why_ you are displeased with it. Don't just jot it down into three sentences. That doesn't give me any help of where I should improve.

* * *

_Sasuke? Doing drugs to? But why? He seemed so angry at the bear mention of drugs in school, yet here he is injecting Heroine into his body..._

Sakura's mind had slowly begun to calm down and rise back to normal after staring at Sasuke inject the not so mysterious fluid for several minutes. He didn't seem to care that she and Tenten were watching. Tenten was still doing cocaine and hadn't even noticed yet that Sakura was finally calming down.

"Sasuke...why?"

He blinked his eyes at her and pulled out the needle. "I have my reasons, just like you." He said cooly. "I don't tell Tsunade that I'm doing drugs, and I won't do so for you." Sasuke leaned his body against the couch in a relaxed position. His eyes looked sad, almost as if he was forced to be doing the drugs.

* * *

Sakura looked over at her night stand. They hadn't been friends in two months yet still she kept the photo of them together next to her alarm clock. She was feeling a little bit lonely without Ino telling her about her long dates with Shikamaru. As wonderful as a friend Hinata was, it just wasn't the same. 

Picking up her phone, she dialed Ino's number and waited. "Hello, may I please speak to Ino?"

"Speaking." Ino's usual voice filled Sakura's body with a feeling she hadn't felt in a while.

"It's Sakura...I just wanted to apologize for what I did. Breaking off our friendship like that...I'm deeply sorry, and I hope we can return to being friends again." Sakura said slowly and clearly.

The other end of the line was quiet for a few seconds, then, "I forgive you."

"Really? That's great!" Sakura said ecstaticly

"Mm-mm." Ino nodded on the other line. "Are you busy this Friday? My mom was going to rent a bunch of romance movies, and since you love romance I figured you'd like to come over and watch them with us."

Sakura quickly scanned through her head to remember what she was doing this weekend. Nothing big was planned until Saturday where she had a date with Sasuke. "No, I'm free. I'll be there for sure."

The girls discussed a little bit on what had been going on in their lives since their friendship had ended and after two hours of talking, Ino finally said goodbye. Friday could not come soon enough for her. The weight of their once broken friendship had been lifted off of her shoulders and she slept peacefully for a change.

* * *

Friday was much more enjoyable then Sakura could have imagined. She and Ino were able to catch up on several lost moments. Laughing, giggling, gossiping, the things they used to do before their break. They watched three deep romance movies together in Ino's bedroom with tons of popcorn, non-diet sodas, and sweets that her father brought over for them to snack on. Sakura was most pleased with herself when she resisted all of the sweets and settled for one glass of Coke. 

Sakura never brought up anything about Ino now eating a load of food without a look of hatred or regret in her eyes. This confirmed Ino was looking for attention, and being alone in her house meant she didn't have to try for it any longer.

Time slipped past between the girls and after all of the movies were over, gossping continued again. This time it was about their agencies.

"Shizune tells me I'll be having a big photoshoot with a famous model next week. I bet it's Sasuke!" Ino ecstatically spoke. "I can't think of any other famous model other than Itachi...but he hardly ever models here. He likes to model in the European countries." Ino gasped. "Maybe I'll be doing one with Tenten!"

"That's wonderful...Tsunade hasn't been telling me about my shoots...I just walk in and my photographer normally informs me." Sakura shrugged. She now began to wonder why Tsunade never informed her about her photoshoots. "I'd rather not talk about modeling now...how are things between you and Shikamaru?"

Ino looked up to the side with a day-dream look on her face. "Perfect! He gave me his family ring!" She showed off the large ring on her finger and smiled proudly over it. "We've kissed so many times, and if Shikamaru wasn't so lazy, I'm sure he'd make it more public that we're dating."

Sakura smiled. "That's wonderful." Sasuke had yet to open up his relationship with her and was feeling highly envious for Ino's love from Shikamaru. He, then again, was a little shy and it wasn't any surprise to her that it was taking him so long. Sasuke had done plenty of things to let her know he loved her, and that was good enough.

Though a ring of commitment would have been nice to receive.

The sleep over with Ino went well into the next day. The girls didn't go to sleep until late and woke up earlier then they thought they would. A light breakfast soon followed them and Sakura borrowed Ino's shower to get ready to head over to Sasuke's. She had yet to tell Ino that, that was where she was going and told Ino that she had an appointment with the doctor about her eyes. They watched one last movie that had been another sob-story that left the two in tears and just before Ino's mother announced it was time for lunch, Sakura was out the door and heading to Sasuke's for the rest of the day.

According to Sasuke, Rin and Kakashi were out shopping for supper tonight and wouldn't be back for a few hours. The two were alone together and Sakura became uneasy very fast.

"So...er..." She twirled a peice of her hair. "How is life?"

He cocked an eyebrow her way. "Fine. Yours?"

"It's also been fine!" She couldn't figure out why she was so uneasy. Her body

"Sakura, join us for dinner?" Rin cheerfully asked as she cut up octopus legs. "It's one of Kakashi's favorite meals. I think you'll really enjoy it; seafood salad. Simple yet tasteful." She dropped the chopped legs into a pot and washed her hands off before pulling out some fresh shrimp.

Secretly, she was beginning to loath the many dinners she had been eating with Sasuke, but she was raised properly by her parents. Eat what was given to you and thank them, even if you hated it. "Of course I'll stay." Sakura said in the same cheerful tone Rin gave.

Dinner was prepared in no time and the four of them sat in their usual spots. The dinner, as much Sakura hated to admit it, was delicious and beyond anything she had ever tasted before in her life. It was a slight shame Rin was a Nurse and not a Chef. Flirting was one of the many things that had been carried throughout dinner. Kakashi's eyes constantly eyeing Rin with seduction, his hands that would go on her legs or around her shoulders, and words that would make even Sasuke blush if not for his silent appearance.

"You're flirty tonight, Kakashi." Rin giggled, trying to push him away.

Sakura smiled. Dinner and a show, something always given at Sasuke's house.

"Annoying..." Sasuke muttered as he poked a octopus leg with one of his chopsticks. He was the only one in the room who didn't find Kakashi's flirting to be adorable. As Sakura watched with a fit of giggles, Sasuke continued to chew at his seafood.

After Sakura and Rin had cleared the tables and set out dessert, Kakashi cleared his throat. "I have two announcements to share tonight." He smiled. "The first is, my adoption for Sasuke has finally been put through all the way and now he is my adoptive-son!"

Rin and Sakura smiled and awed, hugging the two boys and congratulating them on finally being a family.

"It only took seven years, but it finally happened. Now, for my second announcement..." Kakashi smiled again and grabbed Rin's hand. "You know I've never been a romantic guy, but..." He stopped and pulled out a small black box from his pant pocket. "Will you marry me?"

At that moment Sakura and Rin burst out in a squeal as if they were to thirteen-year-olds giggling over a hot movie star. Sasuke's eyes grew three times their size and he dropped his fork full of cheese cake.

"Yes!" Rin squeaked, wrapping her arms around Kakashi's neck and kissing him. "I think now would be a good time to share _my_ happy news then!" She said as she pulled away. Rin turned to face the two teens still at the table and beamed. "I'm six weeks pregnant!"

The room went silent. Both Kakashi and Sakura's jaws had dropped and Sasuke's eyes grew even bigger.

"C-congrats!" Sakura finally stuttered. _I should have figured they were sexually active. I just thought Kakashi would be more careful then that!_

"Are you sure?" Sasuke and Kakashi then said.

Rin nodded. "Positive."

Kakashi smiled. "Here I thought you were just getting fat."

Sakura's jaw-dropped and Rin glared at her fiancee' before laughing and wrapping her arms around him again with joy.

After dessert was finished, Sasuke and Sakura took a walk with Pakkun nipping at their heels as they went along.

"I can't believe they're going to get married...I can't believe she's pregnant! But still, I can't believe they are going to get married..." Sakura said dreamily as the two walked through a small park that was close to Sakura's house. "How sweet is that?"

"Hm..."

Sakura sighed dreamily. "I can't wait until I get married...I want everything to be perfect..."

"Hm..."

"I've planned that day out since I was four years old. Each detail becoming more richer and important." She happily twirled around. "Wouldn't you want to get married someday, Sasuke?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and looked embarrassed. "...Someday..."

* * *

"Sakura! There you are!" Tsunade cried out, rushing over to the teen. "I told you how I'd start weighing my models every other week, so if you can come with me before your photoshoot, I'd appreciate that." 

Sakura followed with a rush of nerves going through her body. 98lbs was the last thing she remembered weighing at, without a doubt she knew that Tsunade would find her weight to be 'light' and send her on a leave. She had a feeling that she was to put fake pounds onto her body and stuffing her sports bra with rolls of coins that she had saved up over the past couple of years. Tsunade hopefully wouldn't suspect a thing.

"You can leave your clothing on. I'll just subtract two pounds from what you're weight comes to."

_Thank you..._Sakura prayed silently as she stepped on to the scale. It stopped gently on 104. _Thank you, thank you, thank you!_ Her mind screamed out happily. _Tsunade won't suspect a thing!_

"104...good. You barely skim the lowest amount of weight I'm going to allow a model of your height be." Tsunade said, writing down Sakura's weight onto a clipboard. "You can go to Orochimaru now and prepare for your photoshoot." Tsunade's facial expression looked highly disappointed at the chart and she sighed as she set it down and sat down in a nearby chair in the room.

Arriving into her usual room to meet Orochimaru, she noticed that only the scale was in there and there was no Orochimaru. She shrugged and slowly began to remove the rolls from her bra.

"Stuffing your bra to impress Sasuke?"

Dropping the coins and whipping her body around, Sakura saw Orochimaru not to far behind her. The door closed as usual, and a familiar smirk across his face.

"No...Tsunade has begun to weigh her models...to make sure I didn't appear underweight I stuffed my bra with rolls of coins." Sakura said confidently.

"That is something you'll never have to worry about, Sakura. Being underweight is something you are far from...What is your weight now?"

Sakura glanced down to the scale. "97lbs...I lost one pound..."

"I can count, Sakura." He snapped, rushing behind her to get a better look at the number. "Perfect...let us see if we can get you down to 95...won't you be beautiful then?"

"Yes..." She stepped off the scale and put her clothing back on. "I think I'm late for my photoshoot now..."

Walking down the hallway to the room Orochimaru told her to meet Jiraiya and Sasuke at, Sakura heard the sound of cameras clicking and comments to a 'beautiful woman' who was doing such a 'wonderful job' on her photography. Figuring it must have been Tenten or Temari doing a shoot, Sakura egarly walked into the room to see none other then Ino and Sasuke modeling out together.

Close ranged and in sexy poses, Ino's hands moved around Sasuke's body as he dominated over her in the photoshoot. Ino's seductive blue eyes looking at Sasuke and a smirk upon her face while she looked up at him in the shot.

"I thought...that this was supposed to be my photo..." Sakura slowly spoke.

Tenten caught glimpse of Sakura and walked over to her. "It surprised me too...Tsunade said that you were going to be the original girl in this photoshoot." She placed one of her hands on Sakura's shoulders and rubbed it in comfort.

"Then...why was Ino put here?"

"Well...Tsunade thinks you're sickly looking...she told me that she doesn't want you modeling for her clothing unless you put on more weight...So she had Ino come over from Suna...I'm sorry." Tenten spoke in a near whisper.

Sakura inhaled and exhaled slowly. "It's fine...Ino's always wanted to model with Sasuke anyway...Excuse me..." She backed away slowly from the set and ran back to Orochimaru's room.

"Back so soon?" He asked, looking up from the book he was reading.

"Tsunade replaced me with Ino...she says I need to _gain_ weight." Sakura quickly blurted. "Tenten told me that I was supposed to be in the shoot going on now, but Tsunade thinks I look _sickly_!" Her face was red from confusment as she explained to Orochimaru what had just happened.

Orochimaru sighed and set down his book. "Sakura...it's a form of reverse psychology..." He walked over to her and placed an arm around her while playing with her hair with his fingers. "Tsunade truly believes that you are obese...but to put it in a form you'd like to hear, she told you that you were too thin. Telling you to gain weight is her way of telling you to lose weight."

Sakura blinked her eyes. "But...that doesn't...make sense..."

He tugged on her hair. "Trust me, Sakura. It's just a form of reverse psychology."

"Tsunade...thinks I'm...fat..." She spoke slowly. _I suppose it makes sense. A way to make it lighter on someone that they need to loose weight. Saying 'gain weight' sounds better then 'lose weight' when you're as fat as I am._

Orochimaru let go of Sakura. "I'm afraid so...why don't you go on a fast this weekend? She'll be pleased if she finds out you went the weekend without eating a thing."

Sakura fell to her knees and then to her bottom. "I'll do that..."

"Good girl. I'll go discuss some future shoots with Tsunade for you." Orochimaru smiled and left the room.

_Even Tsunade thinks I'm fat too? Sasuke must see me as a whale then...Kakashi must just love it when I come over for dinner...how I leave him with no leftovers and leave full as could be...they must all laugh whenever they see me eat...how stupid I look while I shove my face..._Tears began to form in her eyes. _It explains why Sasuke doesn't like to be so open with me...I scare him with my obesity..._Sakura rubbed her eyes as tears streamed from the sides. "Why do you have to be so fat? Why? Why? Why?!" She brought her knees up to her chest and continued to rub her eyes. "You aren't going hard enough on yourself. You need more restrictions...Sakura, dammit just stop fucking eating!" Sakura pulled at her hair and pulled out small fistfuls of hair out and dropped it to the floor in anger and continued the motion while she cursed at herself. "Idiot! See what happens when you eat too much? They have _Ino_ come in and take your place!"

There was a soft knock at the door.

"Yes?" Sakura said in a scared voice. She dropped the balls of hair in her palms and walked over to the door. It must have been Orochimaru coming back for his book. Another knock happened before she opened it.

In front of her was a tall man with long black hair. He appeared to be five foot eleven and in his mid-twenties or possibly even younger. The man was handsome and had soft and flawless looking skin. His eyes were dark and cold like Sasuke's and his face wore the same uncaring expression that he wore.

"Can...I help you?" Sakura asked, quickly brushing the tears away from her eyes.

"I am looking for my brother." The man said.

Sakura pulled some hair behind her ear. "I can try to help. What is your last name?"

The man blinked his dark eyes. "Uchiha."

* * *

Author's notes - Yet again, I apologize for the delay...a lot has been going on in my personal life at the moment and I just felt no desire to update since I was yet again thinking about deleting this story. I'm very irritated at the moment and just need a good break from life period. Hopefully I'll be back on track before you know it. But one of my friends and I are fighting (again) and she seems to be siding with the other friend in our problem...it'll just be something we (hopefully) get over in a few days and forget it ever happened. And before anyone comments; _Eating Disorders are a form of reverse psychology!_ So don't you dare write a 'review' complaining that what Orochimaru told her made no sense, because if you have an eating disorder, you'd understand so perfectly. 

Thank you for reading.


	17. Guests and Rumors

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Author's notes - In honor of the touching episode of 109, I've decided to update all my SasukexSakura stories! Apparently I'm not the only one, but, who else cried during the English dub? I personally found it to be wonderful. I won't go into anymore detail though because not all of my readers have seen it. So, enjoy this chapter! (There's even my own little SasuSaku moment inside.)

_Next time - Chapter 18 - Sasuke's confession_

* * *

"Uchiha...Itachi?" Sakura's eyes shook as looked upon the man in front of her. Remembering what Kakashi had told her about him, she tried to remain calm. "Wh-why are you looking for Sasuke?" Her voice shook. 

Itachi looked at her tear-stained face. "Business."

"What kind?" Asked Sakura quietly.

He cocked one of his thin eyebrows. "Modeling, of course...why else would I be here? Tsunade called upon me and requested that I modeled with Sasuke and a young woman named Sakura."

"Oh...right, of course, modeling. Er...I don't think Sasuke is available at the moment. He's currently doing a photoshoot." She put a smile on her face. "He should be done shortly." She stepped aside and held out her hand, allowing him in.

The two sat in an awkward silence for a good five minutes before Sakura spoke up. She wasn't sure what to say to the murderer of Sasuke's family. It was different to her since the only other killer she had a connection with was Orochimaru. She kept her eyes firmly on his hands and jiggled her foot to occupy herself as they continued to wait. Itachi looked to the door once in a while and glanced as the measuring rope and scale that was carefully put in their place.

"I guess he's caught up talking with the female model." Sakura said nervously. "She _is_ talkative."

Itachi blinked his eyes.

Her body began to heat up from embarrassment. "I can go check if you'd like." She stood up and headed to the door, Itachi closely behind her. "This is room right here..." Sakura pointed to Sasuke's room which had a light on in it. "He might be in..."

Without a thank you, Itachi walked in and slammed the door in her face.

_Rude...it must run in the family..._

She eavesdropped through the door and tried as hard as she could to understand the two men from behind the door.

"...Itachi, you son of a bitch! You have some nerve to show your face in the country again after what you did." Sasuke's voice was high and angry. A lovely greeting to a family member, she thought.

"It's a thing in the past now. Accept their death and move on. Emotions only make you weak." Sakura was sure she missed a few words from Itachi's softly spoken sentence.

"You murdered everyone!"

"Hm, it was never proven. My alibi was perfect and no one suspects that I did it anymore."

"Bastard!" She heard the sound of glass breaking and a few body hits. Sakura was tempted to open the door to see if Sasuke was alright, but she was too scared. When the noise died down Sasuke opened the door, nearly bumping into her.

"Are you alright?" She asked in a worried tone.

Sasuke didn't answer and kept walking down the hallway holding a wound on his arm which was dripping so much blood.

Peering her head in slowly, Sakura saw Itachi standing there with no wounds, but a small smirk on his face. She was confused now and was certain that she had missed something. Something from the story Kakashi had told her was missing, and knowing Sasuke would never tell her, Sakura was determined to find out.

"Sakura, have you seen the papers?!" Tenten said in a quick voice, holding a popular magazine in her left hand.

"Hm? More gossip of Sasuke and I?" Sakura was uninterested at the moment.

The brunette shook her head. "No, they're catching on. They are writing articles about your weight. Everyone says your Anorexic!"

"What?!" She snatched the magazine out of Tenten's bony hand and as she said; the front cover had a picture of a 'skinny' Sakura with a questionability of her having an eating disorder. It seemed to be the most important article of the magazine since the other main things were about a celebrity breakup, a pregnancy, and a short interview with Yuki. "Do you mind if I keep this?" She stuttered.

Tenten nodded. "Will you debunk the rumors?"

"No...I just won't reply to them."

"But that will only rise more curiosity."

"I know..." She mumbled as she opened the magazine to page twenty-seven where the article was.

**Haruno Sakura; Anorexic?**

_"Being one of five lucky girls to win a modeling contract and work with top fashion designer, Tsunade, seventeen-year old Haruno Sakura was the one that stood out the most. After her first fashion show which took place a few months after winning, Haruno grew to fame with her outstanding beauty, average body, and personality. Then dating male model Uchiha Sasuke only gave her more fame. But over the past few weeks people have begun to notice Haruno's body to go from average to stick-thin._

_'Sakura hardly ever eats. She'll have dinner with me and will only take a portion that a toddler would be allowed'. An insider tells _Leaf.

_Rumor of Haruno's sudden weight loss could possibly be due to stress on the young woman dealing with schoolwork, martial arts, and a boyfriend. Others believe that it's simply because Haruno was put on a strict diet to make her drop a few pounds to make her more slimming which spiraled into a disease._

_Interviewers have tried to ask Haruno's manager, Mikatochi Orochimaru, who is supposed to supervise her weight if an eating disorder was the cause of her weight loss. Mikatochi smiled and said, 'Sakura eats healthy meals and works out for an hour five days a week. She most definatly does not have an eating disorder and if she did I would confront her about it. People loose weight over time, Haruno has told me that she's always had weight problems and a few months before she went to the modeling contest she was abusing diet pills. Haruno could still be taking the pills possibly. Nonetheless I will ask her about it. Sakura is a beautiful young woman and is told that everyday I see her. I would hate to see something horrible happen to my model.'_

Leaf magazine_ then tried to interview Haruno's boyfriend, Uchiha Sasuke, but had no comment on the situation._

Sakura quickly read through the article and snorted when she read Orochimaru's comment. It was most certainly not true. The insider had her curious on who it was, Ino had finally been the one she figured it could be and after resting on that she was fine with the rest of the article until;

_The same insider has also told us that Haruno only weighs 98lbs and has already passed out at the agency once before._

The made Ino out of the question. Tsunade was an optional person now and could have made up the story of her hardly eating to the press to add attention to her agency. She gripped the magazine tightly and darted to her dressing room.

* * *

Sakura burst through the door, angry from the lies Orochimaru told and was ready to confront him. But of course, it wouldn't go that way. 

"Good, you're here." Orochimaru said with a smiling face. "I have a _special_ photoshoot for you today."

Forgetting about the article on instant she cocked her head. "What are you talking about?"

"Do you know what 'Glamour' modeling is?"

She shook her head.

His smile grew. "A form of modeling in which you are naked."

Sakura's eyes grew twice their original size. "You're kidding right?"

Orochimaru reached to the table and pulled off a few what looked like photos. "Oh, not interested?" He tossed her a photo of Tenten covering her body with a scarf. "Tenten did it..." He then threw her one of Sasuke doing a side shot, only his hand covering that certain area. The photo looked like it was taken with a cheap digital camera unlike the Tenten one. "Sasuke did it..." Then the third photo he threw her way was of Ino. Her hands covering her chest and her legs crossed over. "And Ino did it..."

She couldn't believe her eyes. Her mind was flaming with jealousy over the beauty of Tenten and Ino's bodies. Nude, perfectly toned, and beautiful for sure. She was even jealous of Sasuke in a tinge. _Tenten's done it...Ino's done it...and hell, even Sasuke...I...I can't be the only one who sticks to the same old stuff..._ Clearing her throat Sakura looked up from the photo. "What room do I go to?"

"Here is fine."

Gulping, she removed her clothing and went to the wall Orochimaru told her to. "No makeup or accessories?"

"You don't need them. Now start posing." His voice had changed from happy to demanding.

She whimpered and began to do poses that she would think a Glamour model would do. Constantly covering her breasts for safety and made sure her butt was in a better view then the front. She felt slightly violated but each time she was about to ask for a stop she remembered Ino and how she did it. Sakura was not going to look weak against her anymore.

"Move your leg a bit...yes...beautiful...yes..." Orochimaru whispered disgusting words about her body every so often which made her even more uncomfortable and was angry when he did so that Sasuke wasn't there protecting her like he promised.

"You're done. Quickly get on the scale." He ordered.

Sakura ran over to the scale, covering her private body parts with her hands as she glanced down to the scale. "95lbs." She said in a happy tone.

"Good..." Orochimaru kissed the top of her head. "Remember to keep this photoshoot between us. Our little secret...if Tsunade found out, she'd be disappointed."

"Hm-mm..." Sakura moved her body away and put on her clothes. Her head still had the weird feeling of Orochimaru's lips on top of it. "I-I have to go now..."

Orochimaru hooked up his camera to the laptop computer that was where his usual beer bottle was. "I'll see how you're doing when I finish here."

_Keep this photoshoot between us. Our little secret...if Tsunade found out, she'd be disappointed..._But why? Sakura couldn't figure out why it had to be a secret from Tsunade. Unless the photoshoot was never supposed to take place and the fact that she was still a minor and doing nude photography could be something that would be something to easily set off the few limits that Tsunade has.

Taking a left turn, Sakura walked into the last room where photoshoots where normally taken. Tsunade was there as usual with Jiraiya to accompany her with the photos and Sakura only guessed that it had to be a double photoshoot since Temari was there getting girly makeup put on her Gothic skin.

"Good, you're here." Tsunade pulled a long blue and pink layered Kimono off of a rack and brought it over to her. "If you'd stop wasting time with Sasuke, Orochimaru or whoever the hell it is you're talking to before your shoots we'd be almost done by now. So quickly, put this on!" Tsunade dropped the Kimono in Sakura's arms and then grabbed a matching pink Obi.

Sakura quickly changed and moved to hair and makeup. Temari was waiting patiently on the set.

"Alright ladies. It's a simple makeup add, so this should be easy for the two of you." Tsunade clapped her hands together after setting Sakura and Temari in the starting positions she wanted with the makeup.

Temari worked the camera beautifully. Positioning her body in different poses that worked with the Geisha looking add.

"Beautiful Temari, close your mouth a bit...adjust your left arm and leg...good..." Jiraiya and Tsunade complimented Temari nonstop throughout the shoot.

"Sakura! Work with Temari, follow what she does." Tsunade snapped. "Get your head in the game. This isn't some class photo, millions of people will see this, so make it look good."

"Yes..." Sakura kept her eyes on Temari at all times, copying every little move she did only on the opposite side to make it work better.

After the shoot ended, Tsunade furiously walked over to Sakura. "What's with you, Sakura? One day you'll be taking some of the most beautiful photos I've seen in years and then other days I'm nearly ready to fire you. What's going on?"

"I'm...just feeling a little uncomfortable at the moment...I feel a little sick."

Tsunade raised one of her eyebrows. "Well the next time you feel sick, let me know."

Sakura nodded and excused herself from Tsunade, walking casually over to Temari.

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Hm?" Temari pulled the washcloth she was using away from her face and blinked.

"How much do you weigh?" Sakura stumbled out. Her face going red from embarrassment for asking Temari such a personal question.

"What? Oh...er...I'm not sure...like...115..." She shrugged and pulled out some eyeliner from her purse. "Why?"

"No reason. I'm just curious. With your height, it's hard to tell what your weight really is."

* * *

Unlocking her front door, Sakura heard the phone inside begin to ring. She quickly opened the door, kicked off her shoes and ran to the phone. Ino's phone number flashed on the screen and confused, she answered it. 

"Hello?"

There was heavy crying on the other end and the soft sound of a whimper. "Sakura...Shikamaru..." Ino started between hiccuping cries.

"Shikamaru, what? Is he alright?" Sakura was now curious and sat down on the nearby chair just in case the news was shocking.

"He...he...broke up me!" Screeched Ino on the other line.

"Oh my gosh...Ino, I'm so sorry!" Sakura spoke in a concerned tone. The news was shocking, but not as deep as she was expecting. "Did...he tell you why?"

Hiccups continued on the other end. "He says he 'fell in love' with another woman. Sendok Temari!" She yelled. "He says he's been hanging out with her for weeks as just friends and started to fall for her! Shikamaru even told me she wasn't such a hassle. Can you believe that? I can't see what he finds so appealing to him. She's ugly, a bitch, and so controlling. Temari thinks she's all that just because she's a model and won against all those other girls." Ino stopped her small rant and began to cry again.

"Ino...don't worry...you don't need a boyfriend anyway. _They're_ the hassle and just drag you down. Especially when he doesn't care about something that means the world to you. You are still young anyway..." Sakura paused. "Remember that you also have your friends that love you."

"Yeah, but..." Ino sighed angrily. "I want a boyfriend to say it to me...not a friend..."

Sakura couldn't think of anything to say. What would she say to that? "I have an idea...why don't we rent a movie tonight, give each other facials, and then you can rant about Temari all you want. Does that sound good?"

There was a long pause before Ino replied. She could hear sniffling on the other line and Ino muttering to herself about something before she said in a happy tone; "I'd like that...I'll see you in an hour."

After hanging up the phone, Sakura picked up her bedroom a bit and organized it to fit Ino and the plenty of things that they would do together. When the doorbell rang fifty-five minutes later, Ino seemed more calm and relax then she was when she called earlier.

"I brought a movie for us to watch." Ino said right after she dropped her bag on Sakura's bed. "It just came out last week. I don't know if you have seen it yet, it's really good."

"You're mood sure did change fast." Sakura commented.

"That's because I came to realize that I don't need Shikamaru! I'm better off on my own anyway. All boyfriends do is just drag you down and don't show much care into the things that mean the world to you." Ino said proudly. "While I was showering it all just hit me."

Sakura frowned. "That's wonderful."

The night with Ino went exactly how she pictured it. Ino spent most of the time talking about herself (hardly touching the topic with her and Shikamaru), bragging about her modeling and how the progression of it was coming along, then as the two did mini-make overs she talked nonstop about how perfect looking she was. Yes, typical Ino visit. She talked through most of the movie which was then spoiled, and Sakura had a hard time getting to sleep since Ino was in the mood to pull an all nighter.

"If I'm not busy with the modeling, I'll come over again soon." Ino said when she left early the night morning.

"I can't wait." Sakura replied in a cheery tone. Screaming on the inside.

Ino waved and drove off to her house. Leaving Sakura with peace and quiet for a change. She had come to mind that a nice long shower and critic would make her day more relaxing. _Funny... _She thought to herself as she stripped from her clothing. _I find more joy critiquing my body then I do when someone compliments it..._

Sakura sighed at her reflection in the mirror. She was tired of looking at herself and wished that the mirror was no longer there.

"You love eating don't you? Just stuffing your face non-stop...no wonder Ino's better then you, amazing that Tsunade hasn't fired you because of your weight, the reason why Orochimaru looks at you with hatred, shocking that Sasuke hasn't ever told you that he thinks you're beautiful!"

Her jaw then dropped. _That's right...he's never told me I'm beautiful..._

Sakura turned her body around so she had a better view of her bottom in the mirror. "Why hasn't he ever told you anything like that? Hm?" She grabbed onto the fat that was on her ass and tugged down on it with much force. "This is all why..." She stopped the bath water and grabbed her phone.

Dialing Sasuke's number she grew impatient.

"Hello?" Lucky, it was Sasuke on the other end.

"Sasuke...I need to asking something..." She inhaled deeply. "Do you think I'm beautiful?"

There was soft breathing on the other line of the phone. A minute slipped by and he still had yet to reply to her. She tapped her foot impatiently, was it that hard of a question? More breathing and then, finally;

"Yes..."

* * *

Author's notes - Ha! There! More SasuSaku moments for you people. This chapter was impossible to write. I was so stressed out and my mind as been more focused on school. It's been so long since I've been in a public school...I forgot how hard it was to do this stuff. Anyway; the big photoshoot between Sasuke, Sakura, and Itachi will occur in the next chapter. And for those of you who question the nude photoshoot - yes, models actually will get naked and pose for photoshoots. _Glamour shots_ is what I believe it is called, so being told that it's that form of modeling and she's getting 'paid' for it, Sakura would only fall for it. 

Thank you for reading.


	18. Sasukes Confession

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Author's notes - This chapter came easy! Truthfully I had one part of this story planned out to be back in chapter fifteen, it never happened and I kept forgetting about it. Thankfully I was able to think of something to happen that complimented the scene perfectly. Also there is a **huge **part with Sasuke that several you may find offending, so be on the watch for it so you don't yell at me in the reviews. So, we left off with Sakura asking if Sasuke thought she was beautiful...

----------------

"Yes?" She repeated in a rushed voice.

"Why do you want to know anyway?"

Sakura gulped. "I'm just curious...we've been dating for so long and you've never told me that you thought I was beautiful. Out of the girlfriend role, I became curious."

"Annoying..." Sasuke sighed.

She laughed nervously into the phone and scratched the back of her head. "I know, I know. It's so foolish for me to ask, but like I said; I was just curious. I mean you hardly ever say a word to me and it worries me at times when you're so silent because I feel like you're hiding something. The fact that you don't even tell me what happened with you and Orochimaru all those years ago bothers me."

"I have to go..." Sasuke didn't even say goodbye. He hung the phone up on her.

Sakura sighed and tossed the phone onto her bed. She returned to the bathroom and took her bath.

----------------------

When Sakura came to the agency later that week, Tenten wasn't anywhere to be found in the building so she skipped out on a visit with her and headed to the room of her new shoot. What she saw, stunned her.

Itachi and Sasuke were both shirtless. Modeling out black underwear. Sakura found herself short of breath as she saw Sasuke's firm abs and skinny frame standing in the hot lights of the camera gear. She pursed her lips together and took a shaky step forward. Itachi himself, who, unlike his brother, had more muscle then anything, was very attractive looking in this situation. She took another step and was greeted by Tsunade.

"Wh-what are we modeling out today?"

Tsunade glanced back at the two brothers with a small smirk on her face. "Just underwear...hopefully you'll be able to keep the two of them from fighting. I was given a complaint by a few other models about the noise they made yesterday. Now hurry; get your wardrobe on."

Sakura slipped into the size zero underwear and nervously walked onto the set. Camitop or not, this was too much skin showing for Sakura's own liking.

"Ready...alright..." Jiraiya said loudly.

As soon as Jiraiya gave the heads-up, Itachi placed his hands on her hips and rested his thumbs on her hipbones. Sakura felt chills run up her spine. Sasuke had knelt down as if he was a servant to Sakura and modeled around her knees for a bit of the shoot. The brothers constantly moved positions, each one touching her body, Itachi himself getting a little frisky and moving his hands too close to her breasts.

Posing with two attractive brothers came hard for her. Often times she just wanted to cling to Sasuke to ensure that she had no intentions with Itachi. Other time she wanted to do a cute, not-so-serious pose where they looked like they were having _fun_ in the photoshoot.

Rivalry didn't stop on camera. Throughout the changes he heard Sasuke and Itachi swap unkind words.

"Bastard...don't touch her there..."

"Stop looking down her shirt!"

"My, Sasuke, since when did you become so protective?"

"Foolish Sasuke, I have no intentions on touching your little cherry blossom."

Comments such as those were swapped constantly and Sakura pretended to only hear kind words like; 'It's so wonderful to have you back, Itachi' and 'Oh brother, you and your girlfriend make a fine pair.' She laughed at her silly thoughts. She had been watching too many movies with family bodings and kind European-type words.

After the photoshoot, neither Sasuke or Itachi would speak to anyone. They put on their clothes and left in opposite directions.

Two hours later, she saw Itachi and an assistant carrying two large suitcases out to a deep red and expensive car.

-----

"Your photos are done from our little personal photoshoot." Orochimaru said not to long after Sakura walked through the door two days after Itachi left.

"Hm? She walked over to Orochimaru and waited to see the photos.

He stared at the photos at a long time before giving them to Sakura. He muttered under his breath, dramatically sighed, and would say things like 'Sakura, tsk tsk...' or 'Five pounds lighter would have perfected this...'

Sakura's jaw dropped when she saw the photo. She looked so different. In her eyes she looked like a large blob that was naked against a wall. Her breasts looked deformed, her ass looked five times it's real size, and the way her stomach hang disgust her more then anything in the world. Since she was leaning over slightly in the shoot, it must have slipped her mind to suck in her stomach. "I..." Her hands shook as she continued to gawk at the photo. "Look terrible..."

Orochimaru put a hand on her shoulder. "At least you're more willing to admit it now...If you stopped eating out with Sasuke, you wouldn't look like that."

Her fingers lost their hold on the photo and it fluttered slowly to her feet. "I don't have a full body mirror at my house. It only goes to the waist...I've never scene my entire self nude..." Her face had paled deeply into a ghostly shade of white.

He pulled Sakura's back to his chest and breathed her in. His lips came to her ear, almost freezing them with a chastize kiss. "Just stop eating Sakura...and you wouldn't be like this." With emphasis grabbed her chest.

Frozen, Sakura sat in Orochimaru's arms while his hand caressed her chest with no both hands. His arms resting on her shoulders, she felt like she was going to collapse from the painful weight of him.

"Sakura, Sakura..." He kissed her temple. "You're so well behaved...perfect model behaviour. You're just like Sasuke."

Her heart skipped a beat. "S-sasuke?"

Orochimaru continued to touch her and rested his arms on her shoulders, kissing her temple and cheek every so often. "Oh, yes...you're just like him. When he was younger I would hold him in my arms for hours and do something much similar to this. He was quiet and never said a word." He stuck his nose into her hair and breathed deeply. "But years have changed him. He fights back now. Foolish little Sasuke, he thinks he can say no to me...no one ever can, Sakura." He brought her body closer to his body.

_Sasuke...why aren't you saving me?!_

The door clicked and creaked open. Orochimaru brought his hands up from her breasts to her scalp as if giving her a massage. Sakura shifted her eyes and smiled at the sight of who was at the door.

"Tsunade, Sasuke...what are you doing here?" Orochimaru said in a feigned happy tone.

"Checking in on a few of the models." Tsunade said, examining the room. "Sasuke wanted to see Sakura, so he came along."

Tsunade circled around the scale and measuring rope. The empty bottles of beer, magazine clippings, and old pictures of Sakura that she took earlier in her career. When she finished around Orochimaru's table she made her way towards Sakura.

_Yes, save me...please...I don't want to be touched again...Sasuke, take me away, please!_

"Are you going to say anything?" Tsunade snapped, it was a bad day. "Why are you just sitting there? I'm sure I had a photoshoot scheduled for you today. Orochimaru, I need a word with you..."

Tsunade and Orochimaru went to the other end of the room where the scale as and began to talk to one another.

Sakura slowly moved, she felt like she was pinned to the chair, even after Orochimaru had let go of her.

Sasuke blinked and looked down at Sakura's feet.

_The photos...Sasuke...No! No! Don't look at those! Don't look at my body! Stop it! What are you doing?!_

"Sakura..." Sasuke whispered, staring at the photo. "What is this?"

_Stop looking at me! Stop it! Stop it! Why are you looking at the photos again?! Stop it!_

"I...don't know what you're talking about..."

Sasuke bent down onto one knee and looked at her eyes. "Don't play dumb with me. You're naked in this photo. Why didn't you tell me that he did this?" He glared at her and kept an eye on Orochimaru and Tsunade, who were now arguing over something.

He grabbed hold of Sakura's arms and shook her gently. "Idiot! Why didn't you tell me?"

_Why didn't you tell me?...But Sasuke...you did the shoot too...why are you so mad at me?_

"Y-you did the shoot, too..." She whispered back to him.

Sasuke let go of her arms and stood up. "Sakura..." He turned and walked away from her.

She followed. Ignoring Orochimaru's call for her to stay. "Sasuke! Wait...why is it such an issue that I did the shoot? You did it too..."

"You idiot. Didn't you notice that something was wrong when he took the pictures?" Sasuke snapped at her. "Didn't you notice you had no backdrop or lighting, makeup or anything like that? Idiot, the camera he used was just your simple house-hold one."

She looked at their feet. "Yes, but..."

"Idiot, it's pornography."

"But you've done it to, Sasuke! Orochimaru showed me a recent picture of you naked, covering your private areas...why are you yelling at me when you've done the exact same thing!" She was on the verge of tears. "And why do you still have the photos?"

Sasuke looked at the nudity shots and sighed. "Annoying..."

"Get rid of them." Sakura sighed. "I bet you don't think I'm beautiful now after seeing those photos hm?"

He continued to keep his eyes on Sakura's naked body. "No...you're still beautiful..."

"Please..." Sakura grabbed Sasuke's sleeve and gently tugged him into the empty custodian room. "Tell me why he took the photos of you. Tell me everything..."

Sasuke had yet to take his eyes off of the photos of Sakura. They sat in the custodian room together, silence between them. Sakura silently crying and Sasuke looking at her naked photos. Both teenagers didn't say a word for the first two minutes.

"Would you stop looking at the photos and tell me...please." She begged.

He did half of what she asked. Sasuke cleared his throat but didn't stop looking at the photos. "I told you that I saw him murder Tayuya that night. You asked if that was the reason why he...touched...me, it's the reason why. At least part of it. It was the typical molestation, if I told anyone he'd kill me. That fear quickly vanished after what Itachi did. When I left he was pissed of course. He thought it was a stupid reason to leave and told me that I'd regret it."

Sakura's body suddenly felt cold from Sasuke's story.

"When I came back he seemed to have almost forgotten about what he did to me. All the photographs he had of me naked were kept in a file on his computer and in a special portfolio. For years he's been fondling me. I haven't bothered to tell anyone, as the it became more frequent I began to try to fight him when he'd try. He's too strong...I eventually succumb to him...He gave me the heroine almost a year ago. He told me it'd make me 'beautiful' keh..." Sasuke took a long hard stare at the photo.

"But...why don't you report him? If you're not scared of him killing you anymore then why not?"

Sasuke blinked. "Maybe it's because of Kakashi...and you...I don't know. For some reason I can't do it to him. He's made me who I am today...the money will help me get through collage so Kakashi and Rin won't have to worry about that..." Sasuke shook his head. "I don't know. This is addictive for some reason..."

"But...this still doesn't explain why you were so mad at me about the photos..." She said softly.

Sasuke finally looked at her. "Because I'd hate to see him do this to another person."

"Then why won't you let me report him myself?"

"And end up like Tayuya?" He snipped.

_Tayuya, Tayuya...it's always about her and her death..you make a fuss about me doing drugs, not eating as much as you'd like, doing nude photos for Orochimaru. Yet you've done the photos and drugs, too...and then when I wish to report him you just pull the same Tayuya shit with me..._

Sakura crawled over to Sasuke, she took the photos from his hand and sat in between his legs. "Sasuke..." Tears were still streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry..." Her arms were around his neck and she cried into his shoulder. Whispering 'sorry' over again.

The two of them were embraced in each others arms for forty minutes before Sasuke's watched beeped six times to tell him it was five o'clock. They jumped from each other and Sakura let out a small laugh to lighten the startled mood.

"I'll return the photos to Orochimaru." Sasuke offered, standing up and brushing his pants.

"No, it's fi---"

"I'll do it."

Sasuke kissed the top of her forehead and left her in the custodian room. She was so confused at this moment. An hour ago she was in Orochimaru's arms, being fondled and invaded, and then she was in the custodian room listening to Sasuke pour out about what happened between him and Orochimaru. Now, here she was alone. Memory blurred from what had happened.

------------------------------

Sakura hit the photoshoot. It was a basic headshot. She wasn't focused at all, several mistakes were made and she didn't even Jiraiya to tell her that. Tsunade groaned loudly in annoyance with her and ended the shoot early.

"Do you want this?" Tsunade asked. "Do you really want to be a model? If you're not taking this seriously, I'm going to have to fire you."

"N-no, don't...please. Something happened today that put a lot on my mind..." Sakura said quietly.

Tsunade rubbed her temples. "I won't even ask...Sakura, can you get on the scale for your weekly measurements then? If you're not going to do the shoot, I may as well put you in something while you're here."

Sakura stood on the scale and didn't look down. She'd rather have Tsunade mumble it under her breath.

"93..." Tsunade wrote it down on her clipboard. "Sakura...I'm going to have to measure your body. Can you remove your clothing for me?"

She did as she was told and panicked. She knew Tsunade was not impressed with the weight at all. Tsunade would take it to Orochimaru, and Orochimaru would take it out on her. The measuring rope was placed around several areas of Sakura's body. Tsunade didn't say anything when she finished, she quietly wrote down the size and moved on to the next part.

"You can put your clothes on..." Tsunade glanced at the clipboard. "Sakura. You're measurements don't please me at all."

"Why?" Sakura said into her shirt as she pulled it over her head.

Tsunade shoved the clipboard in her face.

Bust - 29 1/2in

Hips - 31 1/2in

Stomach - 24

Thighs- Rlg - 16 ½. Llg - 16 1/2in

Bottom of legs - Rlg - 12 ½. Llg - 12 1/2in

_It's so obvious now why you're disappointed with it...look how disgusting those measurements are...nearly thirty inches on my chest...and my stomach...twenty-four...God...she's going to fire me. I'll lose my job...everything...it'll all be gone because I can't stop eating..._

"Don't you find that to be a little _small_, Sakura?" Asked Tsunade.

_Remember Orochimaru's reverse psychology...small in Tsunade's words mean large...skinny is fat...thin is thick..._

"Maybe...I'm sorry...my...dad is really sick. I've been worried about him, so maybe I haven't been eating as much as I should be." She quickly lied. "I promise that when I go home, I'll eat a huge supper. I'm getting hungry anyway."

_Sadly, a binge doesn't sound that bad..._

Tsunade clucked her tongue and glanced back down at the clipboard then to Sakrua's face. "Tomorrow when you come back, I'd like to have a word with you about your recent photos and behaviour here at the agency."

Her eyes grew. "Is there a problem?"

"Obviously. Why else do you think I want to talk to you?"

Sakura smiled weakly. "Right Tsunade...I'm sorry..." She bowed to Tsunade and left the agency, her bones chilled and body feeling like it was in a closed space and there was no way to get out. This had been too much for her today.

Orochimaru fondling her, Sasuke's confession of what his life was like in the past with Orochimaru, and Tsunade was now mad at her for her measurements.

-----------------------

Tired and distressed Sakura sat in her car for several minutes before making any movements. Her stomach growled at her angrily. "Shut up shut up shut up!" She screamed up at the rooftop.

She drove to the grocery store that was a mile from her house. Walking in, she glanced at every piece of food with gluttony. Sakura clutched her purse tightly and began her shopping. Picking up ice-cream, cookies, cupcakes, chips, assorted candy, and soda. A hundred dollars worth of junk food was pouring from her arms within six minutes of entering the store.

Sakura carried the selected food to the cashier. The man working it eyed her and she smiled nervously at him.

"Having a party?" He asked, checking each item.

"Something like that..." She paid for her food and drove to the nearest fast food restaurant. There she ordered two hamburgers, no fries, and drove home.

Sakura carefully carried the bags of food up to her bedroom. She locked the door and removed the bags from all of the packaged and laid them out in an order. Glancing at the clock it was eight on the dot. Hamburgers, cupcakes, cookies, ice-cream, chips, soda, and candy of assort. Her eyes shimmered with hunger, licking her lips she sat down on her bed and tore open the package to the fast food burger and bit into it with gust.

Chewing at a rapid rate, Sakura gulped down the burger and worked her way towards the next one. Like the first hamburger, it was down and into her stomach in a few short minutes. She reached for a bottle of soda, and gulped it down. Next was the cupcakes. One by the one they went into her mouth, the frosting smearing onto her face, she moaned as she licked the icing from the side of her lips and grabbed the small bag of cookies working her way towards that.

"Eat it, bitch!" She harshly said to herself.

Gulping down the last of the cookies, Sakura grabbed the ice-cream and mixture candy, combined the two together and binged deeply on it. She hiccuped and tossed the empty carton to the ground. She then tore open the bag of chips and buried her head inside of the bag, eating every last crumb.

When she finished binging, she felt sick to her stomach. Her stomach was too bloated to even move without an intense pain. She moaned in pain from the food in her stomach and brought her legs up to her chest. She cried into her ice-cream sticky palms, whispering to herself how ugly she looked at the moment.

"Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly..." She repeated over ten times. "Fat. Fat. Fat. Fat..." She did the same that she did with the word ugly. Her tiny hand gripped on to the access skin on her stomach and she twisted her body as she pulled at the skin. "Oh..." She hadn't felt this sick in years. She was now tired from the binge, it had drained energy from her. Her pillow didn't have any food wrappers or boxes on them, so with much strength and trying to avoid causing more pain in her stomach she grabbed her pillow and began to sob into it.

-----------------------

Author's notes - Now many of you are probably going to leave a review screaming at me at 'why won't Sasuke do blah blah blah!?' Well, it's all part of her plot...you have to remember that Sasuke is confused himself and cares for the safety of Sakura – _Reviews - If he cared he'd make her get help!_ – Erm, yes, but he has a fear of her winding up dead like Tayuya. Don't worry. I have a chapter written (chapter 22 or something like that...) where many more things are explained and in about chapter 28, she finally...

Thank you for reading.


	19. Bulimia Nervosa

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Author's notes - This chapter just came to me in no time. I had plenty planned out in my head, though I fear chapter twenty will be difficult to write now since this one came so easy to me. So, one of our characters is going to suffer something fatal! I wonder who it is...(Side notes;) Omg! I can't believe it, I have been favoured 100 times for 'Favourite Author'. Thank you _so _much to everyone who has done so or even takes a glimpse at this story! You readers really made my day!

_Next chapter - Behind the Closed Door._

* * *

Sakura awoke early the next morning. Her head spinning out of control and her stomach no longer in pain. Her hands were still sticky from last night and her body was still surrounded by the many boxes and wrappers of food. The fast food wrappers were starting to smell and the ice-cream box looked like someone had vomited in it with the dried up rims of Cookies and Cream. 

After getting up and putting all the disgusting boxes and wrappers into the tash, she headed straight for the shower. She didn't bother to weigh herself, she knew she was back in a very high number yet again. Why did she binge anyway? She was losing control. Out of the shower and back into some clean clothing Sakura went to her closet and pulled out her cocaine. It was the only thing that would make her feel better at this point.

Three rows of the white powder was laid out and Sakura inhaled deeply before snorting up the first line.

Everything seemed right for a minute. She smiled and giggled softly as she went down for the second row and then the third. Once she had finished she laid down at her back, staring up the white roof, amazed by the texture above. Sakura lifted her arms up and reached upwards, almost like she was trying to grab something.

It was nearly ten thirty before Sakura was back to normal. Her body felt tired, but her mind was fully refreshed and ready for the door. She stumbled up and placed the cocaine carefully back into her closet. She grabbed her purse and car keys and headed downstairs. She still had that important meeting with Tsunade.

"Oh, Sakura."

Her mother stopped her halfway to the door. "Yes, mom?"

"I'm going shopping this afternoon and I wanted to see if you needed anything." Her mother yelled. "Do you need any pads or tampons? It's been a while since I've had to buy any for you."

Sakura's body jolted. That's right, it'd been nearly six months since she had her last period. "No. I'm good. I bought myself a box last week. I have to go now, Tsunade and I have a meeting in order." Sakura quickly ran out the door before her mother could answer back.

Arriving into Kyoshi two hours later, Sakura barely made it in time.

"I apologize if I'm late, Tsunade. Traffic was terrible, and my mother held me up a bit." She gasped for breath as she sat down in one of the two chairs on the other side of Tsunade's desk.

"That's fine..." Tsunade held a black portfolio in her hands. "Sakura today I'd like to discuss your weight and measurements with you."

Sakura became sweaty. "Oh?"

"When you started here at Usui Modeling Agency, you were 120lbs, no?" Tsunade cocked an eyebrow. "You're now at 93. You haven't even been modeling for a year and that's quite the dramatic change in weight don't you agree?"

"Yes M'am..."

Tsunade opened the portfolio and handed her a picture. "This is your first photoshoot. You're at the weight in this photo that I would want a 5'11 model at." Tsunade continued to had photos to Sakura. "Here is your most recent shot. 93lbs. Sakura, I wouldn't want any of my models, no matter what the height is to weigh that much. Your low weight is dangerous and it could be deathly if you aren't doing it right."

_Weigh that much..._

"I have a fast metabolism...I was actually losing weight before I came here. I was roughly around two hundred pounds before I dropped down to that weight." Sakura quickly said.

Tsunade took back the photos. "Then why no access skin?"

Sakura stayed silent.

"I'm warning you for the last time Sakura. If I weigh you again and you are anything below ninety pounds, I will make you take a leave of absence until it rises. You won't be able to return here for months. Do you want that?"

"No Tsunade..."

She snapped the portfolio shut. "Good girl. Now, it says here you have a photoshoot scheduled. Try to take some decent photos. It costs me a lot of money to do these and with your past two photoshoots I have been less then impressed with you."

"I'm feeling good today. I won't let you down." Sakura stood up from the chair. "I promise."

Tsunade smiled and then put her head on her desk to take a nap. Sakura left the room and went to Tenten's. Fifteen minutes before her photoshoot, and it had been a while before she and Tenten had talked to each other.

"Tenten?" Sakura opened the door and looked around. A light shone from the bathroom, meaning someone was in there. Sakura seated herself and waited for someone to come out.

Gagging noises came from the bathroom and Sakura became worried.

When Tenten came out of the bathroom, she was wiping her face with her sleeve and looked pale and gaunt. "Oh...Sakura...h-how long have you been here?"

"Just a few minutes. Are you alright? I heard gagging in the bathroom."

"I'm fine. Well, if you count me having a flu, fine." Tenten laughed lightly as she sat down beside Sakura.

Sakura allowed Tenten to rest her head on her lap so the woman wouldn't have to use the rest of her energy on staying balanced. "And you're still working today?"

"Oh it's fine. Just a quick shoot and then I'm heading home. Neji and I are going to watch some movies together since he's also sick." Tenten smiled and played with a loose string from her shirt. "How have you been?"

"Fine, fine. There isn't much going on with me." Sakura smiled back. "I hate to cut this short but I have a photoshoot in a few minutes and I'm already in enough trouble with Orochimaru as it is. Feel better soon, alright?"

Tenten lifted up her head for Sakura to move and then rested it on the armrest. "Alright. Have fun."

"Thank you."

When Sakura arrived in the room, Jiraiya was just barely setting up the cameras for it. She walked in quietly and went over to makeup. She'd find out what her shoot was eventually.

To her surprise, Orochimaru and Sasuke walked into the room with irritated looks on their faces. Sasuke went to one end of the room and Orochimaru to another. Both boys looked the other way. Sasuke with his arms crossed and leaning firmly against the wall while Orochimaru had one hand on his hip and walked up and down by Sakura agitated.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Why aren't you modeling yet?" Snapped Orochimaru.

She jumped. "I-I'm just waiting to get my wardrobe..."

The attendant came back with her clothing and she gawked at it. Red underwear and a red tanktop/bra combination. The attendant was giggly about holding the underwear and Orochimaru had a small smile on his face.

"That's my outfit?!"

"Didn't you know? We're doing shoots for eating disorders." Jiraiya called out. "You're going to be portraying Anorexia Nervosa."

Sakura held the outfit in her hands. "Oh..."

She changed into the outfit and felt extremely uncomfortable in it. With both Sasuke and Orochimaru watching her in this she was in fear of what they would both say. She wasn't sure if Sasuke had even realized that she was Anorexic or not. She was more then certain Orochimaru knew.

"Alright Sakura...try to look like you hate yourself. Use the measuring rope if you want. Look upset too..."

She didn't need Jiraiya's orders, she knew perfectly well how to behave. Acting wasn't needed at all.

In one set she used the rope. Wrapping it around her neck, waste, and other body parts she looked almost like she was going to cry. It gave her an advantage to measure herself again around the stomach to see if she had damaged her body any more with the binge. Thankfully she was still at twenty-four. Sakura lifted up her shirt in another set. Just below the breasts she examined her body. Sucking her stomach a bit to make her ribs a lot more visible. Other poses she did included herself staring deeply into a mirror, her body on the floor in a crescent shape as she cried and then the last one being of her pulling on some fat of her body.

"Excellent Sakura. Tsunade will be impressed. I hardly had to even help you." Jiraiya said with joy in his voice.

"Thank you..." She smiled.

Even after the photoshoot she stayed in her clothing as Tenten was brought out for her photoshot. Wearing a matching pair of underwear, only blue, Tenten portrayed one with Bulimia Nervosa. Hanging over a toilet and having a set of cupcakes beside her to represent the Binge and Purge routine they went through, Sakura became jealous easily.

"Kakashi wanted to know if you'd like to come over after this..." Sasuke moved closer to her after he saw Orochimaru leave the room. "Rin wanted you to come to the baby shower..."

"Oh, I'd love to come." Sakura happily replied.

Neither finished to watch Tenten conclude her photoshoot. With Orochimaru gone out of the room, she found it the perfect time to get away. She wouldn't have to weigh herself and get yelled at by him and her time with Sasuke would end up more enjoyable due to her now happy mood.

* * *

The visit to Sasuke was enjoyable for her. Rin's stomach was huge now. Bursting out like a balloon for only being pregnant for six months. She was almost through her nine-month carrying and still had yet to get married. They wanted the wedding to happen soon due to the arrival of their baby. Rin claimed that it wouldn't be right that she married after the baby was born. It didn't feel right have a shotgun wedding either. Kakashi was busily tending to Rin's needs, getting her the most disgusting foods she craved which resulted in a large mass of ice cream. Sasuke sat and watched as Rin, Kurenai (who had been Rin's friend since high school) and a few other women Sakura didn't know prepare. 

"Oh, girls. You didn't have to buy gifts!" Rin giggled as she began to unwrap one of her many gifts while the girls circled around her.

Sakura glanced over at Sasuke and smiled. She motioned for him to follow as she quietly got up and left the room.

He followed.

"Has it been hectic recently?" She asked.

"Some days."

She giggled and sat down on the stairs. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out this weekend? Firday, maybe? I know that's only four days before the wedding but it'd be nice for the two of us to spend some time with each other."

"Sure..."

"Great! I'll try to think of something to do by then." Sakura laughed lightly.

Kakashi walked past the two of them with a fresh carton of ice cream in his arms. "Oh, hello, Sakura."

"Hello." Sakura smiled. "Excited for the wedding and baby?"

Kakashi put on a frustrated smile. "It's hectic with her moodswings, but yes, I'm excited for it. You're coming, right?"

Sakura nodded her head enthusiasm "Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world. Sasuke will even dance with me, right?" Her eyes shifted down over to Sasuke.

"Sure..." Sasuke said with uncertainty in his voice.

Kakashi and Sakura smiled and giggled. "Rin and I will be sure to play plenty of slow songs." Kakashi winked. "Now, excuse me while I go get Rin's ice cream ready." He walked away to get her ice cream.

"You _will _dance with me, won't you?" Asked Sakura, turning back to Sasuke.

"Of course..."

* * *

"90lbs flat..." She said firmly to Orochimaru. 

Orochimaru's voice filled with excitement. "Wonderful, Sakura! I'm very pleased with you today. Your last photoshoot gave me chills, you looked nearly perfect in the underwear you modeled."

Sakura wasn't sure if that was a compliment to be taken or not. She was getting tired of hearing 'nearly perfect' and 'almost beautiful'. "Thank you."

His hands were placed on her hips and he kissed her shoulder softly. "To think, you finally weigh less than Sasuke."

"Sasuke? H-how much is he?"

"Only 92lbs." Orochimaru quietly. "I try constantly to make him thin, but he won't budge on the weight. 92lbs is so fat, isn't it, Haruno?" He dug his fingernails into her body. "You won't be like Sasuke will you? You'll listen to me won't you? And in time you'll make Sasuke so deeply jealous that he'll want to be thinner...and in the end both of you will be my gorgeous little models...so tall, so thin, and so deeply frail."

Sakura tilted her head to the side and quietly sighed. If that's what Orochimaru wanted, it was going to take so long. She was ages away from being thin. "Hm-mm...Tsunade says she might have to make me take a leave because of my weight..."

"Don't worry about Tsunade. I'll take care of her."

Sakura excused herself from Orochimaru and put her clothing back on. She ignored him as he continued to speak about how 'beautiful' she and Sasuke were. How their bodies pale skin and gaunt faces looked attractive and made him think inappropriate things.

"Call an ambulance! Now!"

Her attention was caught. An ambulance? She rushed to the door and peared her head out. Many people were surrounding Tenten's door. Confused she made her way closer.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked one of the models who looked worried.

"It's Tenten..." The model choked. "She..." The girls eyes filled up with tears. "She is sick...she won't stop vomiting...sh-she got so tiny that she passed out!" She dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief. "Her boyfriend found her beside the toilet covered in vomit and blood."

Sakura gasped. "Te-tenten?" She pushed through the other models and made her way into the room. A large pile of vomit was on the floor next to the toilet and blood splattered from where Tenten had hit her head and landed. She was embraced in Neji's arms as he soothly spoke to her, saying she'd be alright.

"Tenten!" Sakura screamed and bent down to her knees. "She told me she had a flu...I knew it was wrong for her to come to work."

"Are you stupid? She doesn't have a flu!" Neji snapped, squeezing Tenten's hand.

"Yes she does..." Sakura began to panic in her chest. "I-I came to visit her a few days ago and she told me she had a flu...I heard her vomiting and she even looked like she had a flu..."

Neji glared at her. "Idiot...look at her. Her pasty skin, broken fingernails, yellow teeth, terrible breathe, brittle hair..."

"I'm not following..." Sakura examined her body carefully.

Neji groaned. "She's a fucking Bulimic!"

"Oh, God..." Sakura went pale and became cold.

The ambulance arrived twenty minutes after they called. Neji and Tsunade went with Tenten to the hospital. No others were allowed in, according to the medics her condition was terrible and she most likely wouldn't make it to the hospital. One of the medics checked her pulse and panicked, she quickly ordered her partner to get a stretcher as she ripped open Tenten's shirt and began to pump at it so her heart would get back to speed.

After they left everyone stood in front of her room, scared for Tenten's health and what to do next. Even the agents were stunned and were unsure what to do. Finally, Orochimaru came to the scene and broke it up. Yelling and ordering people to get back to what they were doing.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked as he came up with Orochimaru.

"Oh, Sasuke!" Sakura wrapped her arms around Sasuke's body and began to cry into his shoulder. "Tenten...she's a Bulimic and...and...she passed out and was sent to the hospital."

"Bulimic?" Sasuke held her close.

"We...we have to go to the hospital as soon as we can." Sakura sobbed. "I should have seen it...I'm her friend, I saw her almost everyday and yet I did nothing and let her continue puking...I even was there when she did it...oh, Sasuke..."

Sasuke softly rubbed her back. Words were lost on him at the moment. Rubbing her back and holding her body close to him seemed to be the only thing that worked for her at the moment as she cried out Tenten's name and told him that she was so worried for her and should have seen it all coming. Sakura had no need for a guilt trip, she was not the one to blame, but Sasuke allowed her to continue with it.

* * *

Author's notes - Oh wow! Tenten's a Bulimic? Who saw that one coming? (See's everyone raise their hands with a 'you're an idiot' look on their face.) Right...yeah...pretty obvious huh? So now that one of Sakura's friends is in the hospital do you think she'll finally see how deathly eating disorders are? (Get's the same look) Right...guess not. Well, just wait for chapter twenty to find out what happens with Sakura, Tenten, and Sasuke! - Oh and I promise not to take so long for an absence...some things were just going on that I couldn't handle..._Happy Christmas!_

Thank you for reading.

Now Anorexia has a random question - _**If you were the author of this story, how would you end it?**_ - Don't worry, the story isn't anywhere near ending. She's just curious. You don't even have to tell her, she's just really curious. She already has the ending to this story written, too, but who knows, maybe the good ideas from the fans may make her change something, lol.


	20. Behind the closed door

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Author's notes - Before I get started on anything else I am warning you all now: There is an inappropriate scene between Sasuke and Orochimaru. Be on the lookout. Also, thank you to everyone who gave off an idea for the ending of this story. One of you actually thought up something similar to the ending I have written. Congratulations to you. Now, aside from that I've decided to reply to some questions and one statement that has been asked/said so that anyone else who wishes to repeat can just read my answers here.

**Q - **Will there be any Lemons between Sasuke and Sakura in this story?

**A - **Sorry to upset you but no. With a freaky man always touching them, I think having intimacy is the last thing on their minds. Besides...I'm not good at writing Lemons. (Considering I have no idea what's going on half the time).

**Q - **Why does Sasuke not report in Orochimaru or get mad at Sakura for doing drugs and not eating?

**A - **Sasuke is a hypocrite. He will say things like "don't do drugs" then run off and do them himself. Then, he isn't totally aware that Sakura doesn't eat. Most people are very ignorant when a person with an Eating Disorder is right next to them. As for the Orochimaru...Sasuke fears that if he (or anyone else as you'll find in the future) tell on Orochimaru, that he might come and harm them. He doesn't want to see anyone else he loves die.

**Q - **How is it that you know so much about Eating Disorders?

**A - **I've done lots of research. Plus, I know a few people with Eating Disorders. One of them actually inspired me to write about Tenten having Bulimia. (Now if she ever reads this she'll strangle me to death...)

**S - **(_Statement_) You piss me off.

**A - **Honestly, this is just a fanfiction about real-life events while using fictional characters, if you can't handle this then go somewhere else.

Next chapter - _Do you love me?_

* * *

Sakura cried in Sasuke's arms for what seemed like forever. She made his shirt wet from all the tears that poured from her eyes as she sobbed out for Tenten. Praying that Tenten would live and make it to the hospital. Sasuke was out of words, rubbing her back with his palm and kissing the side of her head as they stood in the middle of the hallway seemed fitting. 

"Do you want to go to the hospital?" He finally said.

There was a small whimpering noise and then; "Y-yes, please."

Photoshoots were the last thing on both of their minds at the moment.

Sasuke drove Sakura to the hospital as his girlfriends face paled. "Eating disorder...I can't believe it...she's...Bulimic..." were repeated the entire way to the hospital. Sakura's body was cold and she was shaking from the icy feeling her body carried. Sasuke payed more attention to her than the road. He, to her surprise, seemed calm with the situation and tried to assure her that she would be alive when they got there only once.

"Ama...Tenten...c-can we see her?" Sakura asked once they reached the hospital.

"I'm sorry. She's in such critical condition, she won't be having any visitors for at least two days. A surgery is currently being performed on her." The attendant explained.

"Surgery?"

The attendant nodded. "Hm-mm...she's in need of a new liver. She's badly damaged it with her disease. If she recovers from that she'll have only three days for visitors before we send her to a recovery center."

Sakura froze for a second. "Th...ank you..."

Sasuke's arm was wrapped around her waist to keep her walking. Sasuke didn't seem to be affected by Tenten's Bulimia yet. He sat with her, slightly annoyed, as she went back to crying into her palms. The couple sat there for an hour, Sakura bawling and Sasuke having an uncomfortable look on his face while peopled walked in and out of the hospital.

"Sasuke? Sakura? What are you two doing here?" Kakashi's confused voice broke Sakura's crying at once.

"Tenten's in the hospital." Sasuke said at once. Letting go of Sakura's body. "Why are _you_ here?"

Kakashi glanced over at Sakura's wet face. "Rin is getting an ultra-sound today. Kyoshi has the best hospital around. Is Tenten alright?"

The two teens looked at each other, Sakura's lips quivering. "She'll be fine." Sasuke said. "Just a little check up."

"Alright...Rin's ultra-sound will only take a short period of time. Do you want me to drive you home?" He offered. Pulling out some tissue and handing it to Sakura.

"I'll take her." Sasuke snapped.

Kakashi smiled and walked away without any other words.

She rested her head on his shoulder and hiccuped lightly to stop herself from crying. Her eyes slowly closed and she felt tired like she had yet to sleep. "Can we wait for Neji and Tsunade?"

His body twitched and Sakura's head nearly slipped off. "Fine." He replied. Sasuke kept one of his pale arms wrapped around her waist as she rested on his shoulder for the next hour. They watched Rin and Kakashi walk back out of the hospital (with ecstatic looks on their faces) people in wheelchairs being taken home, many visitors asking to see loved ones and then finally Neji and Tsunade arrived.

Neji looked distressed and annoyed with everything at that moment. Tsunade was rubbing her eyes with frustration as well.

"H-how is she?" Sakura asked at once.

"She'll live. But she's bad...they think her body is now at the stage where it rejects food so she has no choice to throw up." Tsunade paused for a moment. "Her parents are in Tekumi for the month on business. I've made sure the hospital contacted them about her health." She glanced over at Neji. "And someone let it slip out that she was in the hospital for Bulimia so now the media is having a field day."

Sakura looked up at Sasuke who showed no emotion to her health.

"They're blaming me for her disorder. Saying 'I should have caught on' and shit like that." Tsunade scratched the back of her head."This isn't going to be good for the agency...I might have to put Orochimaru in charge until this clears up."

"Why Orochimaru? Why not Jiraiya?" Sakura quickly asked. Orochimaru in charge would be a disaster, and by the looks of it, Sasuke was thinking the same thing.

"I trust Orochimaru. He'll be good if things ever go wrong. It's only until this thing is cleared up and they know that its not my fault her eating disorder went out of hand." She pulled out her cell phone. "I still expect to see you at the agency tomorrow, Sasuke, Sakura." She walked away dialing a number.

Neji looked at Sasuke, glared at him, and followed after Tsunade.

"What was with the glare?" Sakura asked.

"Annoying..." Sasuke muttered, standing up and offering his hand to the shaky Sakura.

The two drove back to Konoha as they did to Kyoshi; in silence. Sasuke seemed angry at someone or something for no apparent reason she was near scared of him as he tapped his fingers angrily on the steering wheel.

When he arrived at her house, Sakura wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Thank you for taking me to the hospital." She smiled weakly. "It means so much that you did that."

Sasuke didn't seem angry at the moment her arms were around him.

"I'll see you tomorrow...and tell me the news about Rin and Kakashi's baby if you can. Alright?" She felt a bit better at the moment, and in an extra thank you, pressed her lips gently upon his.

He didn't return the kiss, nor had she expected him to but he didn't seem to pull away from it either. When she pulled away he quickly muttered 'good night' before getting back into his car and driving off.

* * *

The news of Tenten's Bulimia was on nearly every cover of every single magazine and newspaper. Big cold letters printed out '**Tenten's Eating Disorder**','**Tenten's Bulimic!**' and '**Tenten hospitalized for Bulimia!**' assorted messages like that covered every aspect of the media. While Sakura paid inattention to the t.v. in her room while she changed the next morning she heard on the news a small piece to Tenten and that she might not make it due to her year-long battle with Bulimia and that the model was near death. Tsunade was interviewed and was suffering greatly for Tenten's health as they blamed her for the model's disease. 

"I try to keep my models healthy." Tsunade tried to defend herself. "I constantly weigh each model every other week. Tenten must have been stuffing her bra with coins or such to avoid me seeing how low her number was."

The media fought back. Complaining that her skin was visible when she was weighed and asking her why it didn't give her a sign.

"Tenten's _Bulimic_. Their weight can usually stay at a 'healthy' range during their disorder. Whenever she was weighed she must have binged before doing so then to return and puke it back up."

Sakura turned off her t.v. She didn't want to hear anymore about her dying friend and how Tsunade might be removed from the agency for a short period of time. Sakura pulled her hair into a short ponytail and headed to the agency. Things were rumored to change, she just had to see how badly.

Pulling into the parking lot two hours later, Sakura was surprised that she saw the usual amount of cars in the lot. No paparazzi was trying to take photos of any one or thing and the atmosphere seemed unusually calm at the moment.

Walking in she observed around the area. Flashing cameras could be heard in nearby rooms and Tenten's bedroom door remained closed. She decided to see if Sasuke was around after her visit to Orochimaru. She wasn't expecting him to grieve over her illness, knowing him, he'd be thrilled that the 'rival' was out of the way and Sakura could replace Tenten. Though that's just the vibe she was given.

"How is Miss Ama doing?" Orochimaru asked while he sat lazily in his comfortable chair while he opened a bottle of beer.

"Terrible...she had to undergo surgery...a liver transplant...if she survives...she has to go to rehab." Sakura spoke softly. The words didn't want to come out from her mouth. Tenten meant so much to her and there she was in a hospital dying and clinging to life while Sakura furthered her career.

"I'll send her a gift basket." Orochimaru took a drink and stood up. "Just think, if she dies, you'll be bigger then her."

_Bastard, how could you even think like that?!_ Sakura gave a weak smile.

Orochimaru handed her some photos. "Your Anorexia shots, I must say, you look absolutely sexy in these..." He made a small moaning noise without parting his lips. "Which comes to my question of where the nudity shots of you went. You ran out with them and I haven't seen them since."

"S...sasuke...he had then, he promised to bring them back to you."

"Ah, but he didn't. I'll just have to re-take them then now won't I?" Orochimaru brushed a few stands of hair from her face.

"Wait...I-I'll try to find them first...if I can't you can re-take the photos.."

She left the room in shock. Shock that Sasuke had not returned the photos to Orochimaru like he said he would have. She was more angry and distressed then ever at the moment and burst into his room without even knocking.

"You didn't return the photos!" She screeched.

"Why would I?" Sasuke replied, knowing exactly what she was referring to.

"Sasuke, he wants to re-take them if I don't give him back the ones he already took! I know you said you'd protect me, but you're only making things worse by keeping the photos." Sakura was in a short wire of panic.

Sasuke blinked slowly. "You want that pervert to look at nude shots of you?"

"If it keeps him happy and not mad at me, then yes." Sakura held out her hand. "Give them to me, now."

He glared at her and then roughly tossed the papers at her.

"You're terrible at protecting me." She said through gritted teeth. "If you were doing it right, these photos wouldn't even exist."

Sasuke didn't reply. His arms stayed crossed and his head turned the other way.

Looking at one of the photos, Sakura felt uneasy. She didn't want to be fighting with him over images that she took. Her relationship with Sasuke was cold and there was no love at all. He never said he loved her, only called her beautiful the once she asked him and their kisses had only counted up to almost ten times, but they were emotionless.

"I don't want to be like this any more Sasuke." She stood up with the photos neatly in her hands. "I want to be a regular couple. Where you say you love me, where you call me beautiful without my asking, and where you kiss me with emotion. Do you think that we could be one of those couples?" Her eyes looked at him with desperation.

Sasuke blinked. "Rin and Kakashi are having a baby girl." He spoke so fast she barely caught him.

She sighed, a change of the topic wasn't what she was hoping for. "Tell them congratulations."

With the photos in her hand she slowly walked out the room. Waiting for him to say something to her. An 'I love you' or 'We could be' _something_ that would make her know that he did care about her the way she did towards him. But no words were left from Sasuke's mouth and Sakura felt even more depressed then when she had arrived at the agency.

Orochimaru took back the photos with greed and shoved them into a drawer for 'safe keeping'. While he did that. Sakura weighed her body.

"87lbs" She said before stepping off of the scale.

"85 is lower, Sakura." Orochimaru smiled softly.

"I know that. I'll try to make it by this weekend..." She spoke into her shirt.

A smile grew on his face. "That's a good girl Sakura." He made his way towards her but she held out her hand.

"I...just want to do my job and leave..." She whispered and left the room.

Orochimaru glared at the back of Sakura's body. Anger overcame him, she had refused him and no one ever dared to do that.

* * *

Her photoshoot was easy today. Tsunade was no there to watch her and none of the other models had seen her since the day before. Jiraiya didn't answer any questions and just took Sakura's pictures as she lazily laid on the floor with maple leaves beside her whiles he wore a light brown Autumn dress. 

Despite Sasuke being on her mind, Sakura was focused deeply on the shoot and hardly ever messed up.

After she changed she walked her way over to Sasuke's room. The door was closed and when she tried to open it, it felt like there was a chair in front of the door, blocking anyone getting in. Quiet as could be, Sakura pushed harder on the door and she heard the sliding of what seemed to be the couch moving forward. She was so weak now, pushing the door was murder for her. Finally, she stopped when she moved the door enough that she was able to see through a thick crack.

Inside the room, Sakura saw horror.

A lap was knocked over, dimming the light in the room. Glasses that were once full laid broken on the floor and newspapers were scattered on the floor as if Ino had just finished throwing a fit. Muffled noises where coming from the other side of the door and Sakura began to panic. She pushed a bit further and saw everything

In Orochimaru's arms, Sasuke was trapped. The older man held Sasuke's body close and made sure Sasuke's bottom was pinned firmly against Orochimaru's hips. One of his disgusting hands was holding Sasuke around the waist while the other held his neck, forcing the boys head to be turned while Orochimaru kissed him. Sasuke was trying to fight back, but not with much force.

"You can't deny that you love it, Sasuke...I touch you in places you only wish Sakura would..." His words whispered into Sasuke's ear and Sasuke's body jolted violently.

Her eyes tried to advert when she saw Orochimaru's hand slip down Sasuke's pants slowly like a snake approaching it's prey. Sasuke's eyes shut tight like he was being tortured and a sickly smile was drawn over Orochimaru's face. He smiled at Sasuke and began to move his hand.

Sakura whimpered and her body froze. Her mind was running a marathon while she watched the two men. "Sa..." She croaked out. "Sa..." Her body shivered and Sakura forced her body to speak louder and more. "Sa...sa...sa..." Over and over, 'Sa' escaped her lips and she watched Orochimaru continue to fondle the young man. Her heart was beating so fast that it was about to burst from her body. She was certain Sasuke's was doing the same. "Sasuke!" She finally screamed out loud.

Orochimaru's hand firmed on Sasuke's mouth and they both stayed still.

"Sasuke, I..." She quickly tried to think of an excuse. "I...I need help with something...I'm...bleeding. My leg, it won't stop. Please, help me."

There was no noise for a few seconds but to Sakura seemed like hours. Sasuke opened the door and quickly shut it behind him. Before he could even glance at her skinny legs she pulled him into the nearest room; the girls bathroom.

"Orochi...maru...he...why...I knew but..." Sakura breathed deeply. In the tiny cell the two teens squished together. Sakura had begun to cry. Her green eyes turning red and swelling. "He told me. That you couldn't resist him even though you tried...how you always succumbed..." Her vision blurred and she stared only at his feet, she couldn't look at his eyes yet. "I just didn't think it was anything like that."

"That was nothing...compared to what he can do." Sasuke seemed fairly calm.

"What?! Sasuke...he..." Her head shot up and she looked at his face through the tears. "He was touching you. You can't let this go on anymore Sasuke. It's bad enough that Tenten's in the hospital, Tsunade might be removed and that Orochimaru might take control. I won't let this happen Sasuke. I care about you to much to let that _snake_ touch you ever again. You may be able to protect yourself, but not from him. I'll protect you while you pro---"

Arms were wrapped around Sakura's body and she stopped talking immediately. He held her close to him and rested his head on hers. He was cold, just like her. Sasuke's arms where just as she imagined. Skinny, yet muscular, warm, and a filling scent of lilies from his clothing. He gripped onto her shoulders and brought her to his chest.

"Sakura..."

She pulled her head away and looked back up at the Uchiha.

He smiled weakly. "Thank you..." His eyes closed and he leaned in towards her. Their lips made contact and Sakura's body became even more limp. This kiss was not like the others. It was warm, passionate, and true. One of his hands slipped down to her waist and he held her softly. His lips never parting from hers.

"Sasuke..." She whispered when they pulled away. His eyes were full of love and she stared into them almost like she was in a possession. "What do I do? I don't ever want to see him touch you again."

"You play along, it's not the thing you want, but it's what you'll do." Sasuke replied.

"But...you looked like you were in so much pain..."

Sasuke let her go gently. "I could say the same for you..."

She bit her lip and nodded. "Understood..."

"If his game becomes to difficult, I'll handle it on my own." He pushed open the door to leave the bathroom and glanced back to her. "Even since the day I met you, you're still annoying." He left her alone in the bathroom.

Sakura smiled softly. She knew what he meant, finally.

* * *

Author's notes - Awww sappy SasuSaku moment (right after a disturbing pedophilia moment...) I'm proud of that last part. It was loosely based on episode onehundrednine where he tries to leave. The sad thing is I really enjoyed writing Sakura watch in horror while Orochimaru touched Sasuke...maybe because I love the triangle of the three of them. (Shrugs) So it looks like the agency is going down the toilet...what are they going to do? And why hasn't Sasuke said anything about Sakura's skinny body yet? 

Thank you for reading.


	21. Do you love me?

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Author's notes - Chapter twenty-one was only difficult in one area. Mainly because I had five different ways I wanted to write it, when I finished with writing it, I re-read it and thought 'this idea would be better...' so rewrote the scene. It took a while, but here it is. Writing the little SasuSaku moment in the end was very hard to do so I apologize if it's like crap. Also, since I've now made so many updates in a short period of time, it'll be a while before my next post. I have a three major things happening three weekends in a row and it's hard to get ready for them and write.

**Q - **Is Sasuke still a Virgin?

**A - **You know what...I never really did make it clear if he was or not. Well, sorry to make you all be grossed out even more, but no. Sasuke is not a virgin. Orochimaru took it away from him. (Gets shot)

Also, my bestest friend drew this **a-ma-zing** piece of artwork for Model Behaviour! (See profile for easier link) I really ask that you take a look at not only that, but all of her other artworks. She's really amazing in doing RP characters and photography. I demand you comment and save! (No no, I'm not that pushy, but really do take a look) And if she ever gets around to posting them, you can see she's the queen of Alternative Makeup. **h t t p / a n i m e -t e n s h i 2 2 .d e v i a n t a r t (dot) c o m / a r t / Model- Behavior- Done- 7 3 3 9 0 5 6 6**

Next chapter - _Kakashi's Secret_

* * *

Neither Sasuke or Sakura returned to their rooms after what happened in the bathroom. Both left without taking any of the things they brought with them and didn't say a word to anyone. They took Sasuke's car and headed back to Konoha together. She was happy that they did not take hers, in fear of him finding burger wrappers all over the floor of the car. He had asked her to dinner that night at his house, where she happily accepted.

Unlike the last car ride she had with Sasuke, Sakura enjoyed her time with him. Together the two talked lightly about what might happen to the agency and how drastic things would change if Orochimaru replaced Tsunade. How Tenten would hopefully not die and that she would recover. As much as Sakura envied her for her waif body, she cared more about her friends health. Sasuke didn't intimidate her once on the two hour trip and for the second time, she felt like she was opening him up. They weren't topics Sakura would have picked out herself to discuss with him but she didn't really mind. After what happened to him, she didn't blame him for only wanting to focus on the distress of Usui.

When they arrived at Sasuke's he went up to shower. Another place where she couldn't blame him. Kakashi and Rin were half way through dinner when they came home so Sakura sat and talked to them while they ate.

"It's a girl!" Kakashi happily spoke.

Sakura smiled. "Congratulations. Do you have any names picked out?"

Rin nodded and spoke with pride. "Kyoko Aiko Hatake."

"That's a beautiful name." Sakura said in amusement as she watched Kakashi swoon over Rin's large stomach and treat it like a prized possession. Rin seemed slightly irritated with her fiance always hugging and kissing her stomach rather then her face.

To be truthful, she hadn't expect Kakashi to name his daughter _mirror_.

Sasuke looked disturbed as he watched Kakashi kiss her stomach and sat down with a clear disgusted look on his face.

Rin grew tired fast after Sasuke sat down and started to fall asleep. It was only eight, yet Kakashi carried her with small difficulty up the stairs to go to bed where he said he'd sleep with her too so she wouldn't feel alone at night.

"Sorry, all we have are rice balls..." Sasuke said apologetically as he handed her a plate with two balls of rice.

"That's fine. Thank you." Sakura said with her mind screaming for the amount of calories in rice. She poked her chopstick at a single grain and looked disgusted with it. Sakura was slightly disturbed as she watched Sasuke eat the rice without any care. She picked up a grain and began to nibble on it.

"May I spend the night here?" She said almost out of random. She wasn't in the mood to go home that night and she knew Sasuke would comfort and care for her better then she ever could herself.

"Hm?" Sasuke looked up at her. She seemed serious in her eyes, but her body shook like she was frozen again. "If you want."

"Thank you." She picked up her second grain of rice.

"Unless you want the couch, you can sleep in my bed." He seemed calm and collected as he said this where Sakura jolted and swallowed her grain. "The couch isn't that comfortable. It's firm and you look like a girl who like something soft. It doesn't pull out either...you'll like the bed."

Sakura was stunned by his act of kindness. "Oh, thank you very much, Sasuke."

The rest of dinner was slightly enjoyable. Sakura only ate sixteen grains of rice where Sasuke had finished off his two rice balls and then Sakura's after she said she was feeling to shocked from what she saw to really eat anything. After cleaning up he took her upstairs to his bedroom.

"Here." He tossed her a pair of blue pajamas that looked new. "You can wear that tonight." Sasuke grabbed his own pair of pajamas and one of the three pillows on his bed. "You can watch t.v. if you can't sleep. Try not to touch anything, and I'll be right below you if you get scared."

Sakura smiled. "You're so kind."

"Annoying..." Sasuke mumbled and left the room.

She changed into his pajamas and slowly crawled into his bed. It was a little awkward at first, but she shoved the thought that it was Sasuke's bed aside. It was soft and very comfortable on her body. She felt a rush of relief as she laid down forgot about what happened with him and Orochimaru. Her fear of having a dream that night with Orochimaru molesting Sasuke all over again in her mind did not happen and when she woke up the next morning roughly around seven due to the sound of singing birds. She didn't change as she walked down the stairs to the kitchen where Sasuke was slowly eating a bowl of cereal.

"Good morning." She said in a better tone from last night.

"Hm." His voice was back to it's cold self.

"Are Kakashi and Rin up yet?" She looked around the quiet house.

"Kakashi just left for work and Rin is on bed-rest. She'll only come out when she gets bored." Sasuke put spoon into his mouth and began to chew and his cereal. "Are you going to eat?"

Sakura smiled. "Oh, no. I'll just get something when I go home or back to the agency."

Sasuke kept a stern look on her and placed a new spoonful in his mouth. "I'll take you home so you can shower and change...since you don't have a car, I'll take you back to the agency as well."

"Thank you." She smiled and sat across from him, watching him eat his breakfast slowly. She figured that this was what it would be like if she ever married Sasuke. A silent breakfast with only one eating and a smile upon her face as she admired her husband.

After Sasuke had finished his breakfast, they changed and drove to her house. He patiently waited in her bedroom and watched a bit of t.v. while she showered and prepared herself for the following day. It hadn't slipped her mind at all, but it was (DAY OF DATE) and the two were supposed to be going out. She dressed nicely and when she left the bathroom, she was refreshed and ready for the day.

When they arrived at Usui, everything was still the same as it was when they left the night before. Sakura's car was still safe in the parking lot, Orochimaru's parked right beside it.

"You left without telling him...do you think he'll..." Sakura pulled back a few strands of hair to show a sign that she was nervous. "What if he tries to do it again?"

Sasuke didn't answer. He unbuckled himself and slammed the door shut before walking into the agency.

She sighed deeply and unbuckled her own seat belt. "Understood...don't say a word..."

* * *

Orochimaru wasn't in the room when she arrived. She waited patiently on the chair where he usually sat and became worried for Sasuke when he didn't arrive in the room five minutes later. She waited though, frozen to find him touching her Sasuke through the crack of a door once again. 

"Good, Haruno...get on the scale." His greeting for her.

She highly doubted that her weight had dropped since the day before and was right. 87 was her stuck number. "I had only a few grains of rice last night..." She said in excuse before Orochimaru could yell at her for not losing anything. "Sasuke gave me something to eat...I didn't want to be rude..." She had her clothing on as fast as she had removed it. "Saturday, I promise. 85lbs..."

"I'm a terrible mood today, Sakura. You only hope that your weight drops that low." He had hand around the back of her neck and he began to softly massage her. "You're finally becoming beautiful..." The other hand of his made his way around her waist and pulled her body close. "I'd hate to see you gain any weight."

Her body shivered. "May I be excused for my photoshoot?"

"Sakura, you know how I---"

A knock at the door saved her life. Orochimaru dropped his hands and answered the door. Tsunade looked agitated and rushed.

"Orochimaru, there are some important matters we need to discuss now." Tsunade bustled into the room with several papers in her hands and sat down on one of the chairs. "The media is still having a field day about Tenten and are beginning to blame me for the...Sakura...don't you have a photoshoot?" Tsunade snapped at her.

Sakura jumped. "Yes...sorry..." She rushed out of the room after grabbing the things she left the day before and left the room, shutting the door tightly behind her.

Instead of going to her photoshoot, Sakura stayed at the door. Listening in on what Tsunade and Orochimaru had to talk about. Their voices were muffled and Tsunade spoke fast, making it impossible for Sakura to catch on.

"I might have to take a leave, Orochimaru." Tsunade said in a business tone. "They're blaming _me_ for Tenten. Bitching how I should have seen everything coming with me being her boss. Weighing the models wasn't enough. Tenten's parents are furious, they're suing us."

"And what would you want me to do about it, Tsunade?"

There was a moment of silence. "If I have to leave to show that I'm not the cause of her disorder, then I want you in charge. You know that other then my husband, I trust you most. You'll do it, won't you? Keep Usui in good hands?"

She could hear Orochimaru let out a small chuckle. "Tsunade you don't have to worry at all. I've been your friend since childhood. I can assure you that all models will be safe."

Footsteps made their way to the door. "Good. I want to you to keep special eyes on Sakura and Sasuke...I don't like how they're acting. Sakura looking stick thin, and Sasuke looking like he's always got drugs in his body. I don't need any more court dates to prove my innocence."

Sakura darted down the hall as fast as she could before Tsunade opened the door. By the time she made it to the other end of the agency, she was out of breath and her stomach was sore from a cramp. Her lungs were on fire for only running for two short minutes.

"Good, Sakura. Hurry and get ready." Jiraiya called out when she walked in. "It's late Summer, we need to start getting the Winter shots going."

An assistant brought over a black faux fur coat that went to her waist over to her with matching fur gloves and heavy boots. Tights were her bottoms and a knee-length black skirt. Sakura gawked at it. It was already boiling hot in the room, she didn't need more heat on her body.

Changing and getting makeups, they sprinkled a few fake snowflakes onto her and the outfit. The backdrop (though she couldn't see it) being a lovely winter scene where they would add more snow in the picture later. Jiraiya then began to take pictures and Sakura started to model with all the extra heat on her body.

Pretending to look cold, and like she was enjoying her time in the snow, she tried different positions. The wind blowing her face that would help make it look like she was in a near blizzard was making her cool down just a bit and Sakura tried to work with the cool air on her face without enjoying it too much. Her legs were spread shoulder length apart and she placed a hand on one hip, thrusting out that half of her lower body. Her head tilted back or to the side and her eyes look seductive.

"Perfect, we have the shot. Excellent work, Sakura." Jiraiya yelled at her, excusing her from the set.

Sakura changed and shook her head to get all of the fake snowflakes out of her hair.

In the doorway, she saw Hyuuga Neji. He was only peering through, maybe he had only been there for just a brief second.

"Neji!" Sakura called and ran up to him. "Neji...how is Tenten?"

"She's recovering with the new liver, if that's what you mean." Neji crossed his arms. "Tenten isn't able to keep food down, and she's being force fed through a tube...they're taking her to the rehabilitation center tomorrow morning."

"Oh...Neji, I'm so sorry..." Sakura covered her mouth like she was about to cry. "Send her my love, won't you?"

Neji turned and walked away from her. "Fine."

Sakura turned her own way and headed towards Sasuke's room.

* * *

Sasuke was in his room, reading a magazine with Tenten's picture on the cover and the word Bulimic in bold gold letters across the page. He read the magazine like he was glued and could not pull away. He read and didn't even notice she had walked in the room until she took a seat next to him and began to read with him. 

Finally noticing her, he closed the magazine and tossed it on the table. "Are you ready?"

"For our date, you mean?" Sakura didn't think he would have remembered.

He nodded and stood up.

"I don't want to take you out for dinner..." Sakura brushed her hair quickly with her fingers and pulled it into a ponytail that rested on her neck. "I was thinking maybe we could go out to the park and watch the stars together. A little bit of a romantic time...n-not that dinner isn't romantic."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Hn."

She turned and smiled, grabbing his hand she walked with him to the park in Konoha. Beautiful, quiet, and surrounded by large tears and a large fountain in the middle of the park, with a walkway, it was the perfect location for a couple to be alone at night and enjoy the stars. Sakura was glad she got him to walk and not to drive. If she was to keep her promise to Orochimaru about hitting 85lbs by Saturday, she had to do more then _drive_ to one place.

"I figured we could just lay here and talk...enjoying each others company." She sat down in the cool grass and smiled up at him. Her body was freezing from the coolness of the night but tried not to show it too much.

He sat down next to her.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Sakura spoke softly as she looked up to the billion of stars above her. "Something so tiny and bright, miles away from reach..."

Sasuke glanced up at the sky. "Hn..."

"Did you ever stare at the stars and wonder what's out there?" Sakura laid her body down on the grass and grabbed Sasuke's hand.

"No."

She frowned. "Why are you acting so cold to me again? You were fine until this morning...you wouldn't even talk to me in the car." She rubbed his hand, making it a little bit warm. "I am your girlfriend...talk to me...I can try to help. Tell me what's wrong. Is it still to do with Orochimaru? Are things going wrong at home?"

Sasuke sighed and laid his body next to hers. "You're annoying..."

Her hand continued to rub his. "Please, Sasuke."

"Nothing is wrong." His words were slow and bland.

Sakura's stomach growled loudly from hunger and she quickly decided to fill the awkward void between the two of them. "I love you...you know that, right? I have for a long time..." Her fingers slipped between his. "Do you love me, too?" Even if 'you're annoying' meant 'I love you' it wasn't the same as the three actual words.

He stayed silent.

"You don't have to say a word...just tell me in some way..." Her voice was so quiet he could barely hear her.

"I...do..."

Sakura wasn't sure if she heard correctly. "You do?"

"I do...love you, too..."

Sasuke's face had a red tinge across his face which gave Sakura her confirming. She giggled gently and propped herself up on an elbow and the left side of her body. Her eyes met his and she smiled. "Thank you."

Her eyes slowly closed and she lowered her mouth to his. Their lips connected and she kissed him several times in a row, their hands still laced like a ribbon. Not a person to gawk or print it in the papers the next morning. No Orochimaru to hurt them, no Kakashi to giggle with Rin. Just the two of them, together, alone, kissing. His lips were soft unlike Orochimaru's, which made everything even more pleasurable and she moaned at the touch of them against her own. Her heart wanted her to go further with Sasuke, but her body and fear of sexual contact stopped her and made her have control. Her hand squeezed his tightly as they continued to kiss.

When she pulled away from him, a small smile was on her face. She couldn't think of any words to say to him for a change. He was still slightly red and turned his head to the side.

She lowered her body and rested half of it on his, their fingers still laced and her other hand on his chest, clutching his shirt tightly. Looking up at the stars together in peace. Everything was perfect at this moment.

Her body shivered gently as his other hand slowly rubbed her back. Bumping it's way down her ribs like a ridged fence. He sighed and rested his head on hers, continuing to rub his hand against her ribs. Disturbed by how skinny she was, but not saying a single word, he felt her waif body and touched around her back where bones were about to break through the skin if she breathed in to much.

She didn't realize he was concerned about her body. Her only thoughts were full of joy. Joy that he was finally holding her like a lover.

* * *

Author's notes - Ohhh, so Sasuke's getting closer to Sakura. (About time!) And, since I've been lacking on giving a preview in the past few chapters, here is one for the next chapter that will be posted in the middle of February. (And I promise, it is really long!) 

**"** "Mmm..." Orochimaru came up behind her while she stood on the scale and placed his hands on her hips. "It's finally starting to show...I can see your bones almost so clearly now..." One of his hands run up the side of her body making her shiver and cold. The fingers picked and prodded at the bones like Sasuke had done the night before. The same hand moved to her back and starting at her neck, he lined one white finger down her spinal cord and Sakura was tempted to scream. His hands touched around her torso, sliding up around the front and working around her apparent concave stomach. Gripping onto her ribcage and lifted upwards like he was going to rip it apart from her. "You're looking so..._beautiful_..." He pressed his lips on her neck and began to kiss her shoulders.

_No...no...I won't allow this...no..._"Orochimaru...I...need some drugs." Sakura said in a low voice. "I'm out..."

A smile crossed the mans face and he picked up his mouth. "Oh, are you and Sasuke having drug dates?" He laughed at his own lame joke. "Come back after you're done with the photos...I'll give you and Sasuke your precious drugs. But you will owe me a little payment, these things aren't cheap..."

"How much do you want?" Sakura was ready to make a reminder.

"Not money, Sakura..." He smirked and allowed his eyes to travel around her once more. "You'll pay the same price Sasuke is going to pay."

Her heart began to pick up it's pace. "What would that be?"

Orochimaru moved his mouth to her ear and spoke so quietly she could barely make out what he said. "Your body..."

"My...body...?"

"Oh yes..." He continued to whisper in that soft evil voice. "You and Sasuke will give your bodies to me for an unlimited supply of drugs...you will do whatever I ask, whenever I ask...You can handle that, can't you, Sakura?" He rubbed his cheek against hers and breathed out. **"**

(To be honest, I love leaving you guys on cliffhangers, lol.) Thank you for reading.


	22. Kakashi's Secret

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Author's notes - I thank all of you for the wait that you went through in the period before I decided to post this chapter. I'm finally out of chapters and ideas...so it'll probably be April before I update again. Sorry to say that...but school and other activities are taking a toll on me and I need a little break from life right now. Lol.

_Next Chapter - White Wedding._

* * *

The two stayed under the stars until ten at night. Crickets were chirping softly and the fountain was giving the soft rushing sound of water. The grass kept the two of them comfortable with the embrace they were in. Sakura buried her face into his chest. His scent was always so sweet. Her bony fingers stayed clutched to his shirt and most of the time he continued to rub her back and ribs. She had fallen asleep for just four minutes when Sasuke woke her up. 

"I'm taking you home..." He sat his body while he still held hers close to him. "You're falling asleep."

Sakura smiled. "This was so nice...the two of us together, enjoying each others company."

"Hm..." Sasuke brushed off his pants and helped her up.

Her lips touched his cheek. "It was nice to have you speak again for a change, Sasuke." A large smile was on her face. "You should do it more often."

Sasuke looked over to the trees to avoid eye contact with her. "I'll see you at Usui tomorrow..."

On the way home, she followed close behind Sasuke's car. Replaying what happened in those lovely hours of embrace and silence that she didn't mind. She only wished he didn't poke his fingers into her ribs from time to time. She had finally made him confess truly. No more 'you're annoying's' the original three words she wanted were poured from his lips. She turned on her radio to keep her up and began to sing to the romance mix-CD she had in her player.

Heaven was where she was at that night. Despite all the horrifying things that were going on.

It was midnight by the time she got home. She didn't bother to change. Kicking off her sandals she collapsed onto her bed and grabbed one of her smaller pillows that was on it. She giggled loudly and hugged it tightly. She had the time of her life even if it was quiet.

* * *

She awoke early the next morning. The sound of singing birds broke her of her dream of her and Sasuke entwined once again. Rubbing her head she sat her body up and glanced at the time. Five thirty. 

Groaning she dropped her body back onto the bed and kept her eyes open. She wasn't going to leave for the agency until noon and there was nothing else for her to do unless she wanted to talk to Ino. But that wasn't the most pleasing thing on her list. She pulled her body up and looked over at her closet.

"What would I ever do without you?" She said almost like she was talking to a lover as she pulled out her cocaine. The bag was nearly empty and only had enough left for one more snorting. She pursed her lips and prepared the precious white powder. The bag was now empty. Tossing it aside she licked her lips hungrily and pressed a finger on one side of her nose before lowering her head down to the floor. Line by line she snorted everything up until their was nothing left.

She laughed quietly as the drugs took over her mind. Fits of giggles as she laid face down on the floor.

The drugs had been so much help for her. Curbing her appetite and being a help in weight loss on it's own. She was so grateful for her addiction.

By the time she came back to her senses it was closer to eight thirty. She got up on her hands and knees before dropping her hips to the ground and arching her body and popping her back from the stiffness she was now feeling in her lower parts.

She stripped into nothing but her underwear and walked into her bathroom. Her eyes stayed at the floor, not even bothering to look at the mirror. She was going to be disgusted with the image she saw, no matter what. Making sure the scale was directly at zero, Sakura stepped on and waited impatiently as the numbers rolled on. Stopping at a high number of eight and four.

"Almost there..." Sakura looked at her stomach and grabbed hold of the extra skin which she viewed as fat. "84lbs, yet you still haven't gotten rid of this large stomach..." Her hands crossed around to her sides. "Love handles still remain..." The hands slid down to her bottom. "And you're ass is even more flabbier then ever." She sighed. "And with not eating for only one day you've made no progression."

Her head lifted slowly and she stared at her reflection. To her, no bone was yet visible. She touched her body and pulled at skin. Mouthing to the mirror 'where are the bones?' Hatred fired in her eyes. "You're such a disappointment..."

Sakura reached into one of the drawers and pulled out a tube of lipstick. Rolling it up, she angrily wrote on the mirror.

"_You're still fat, no matter how thin everyone thinks you are_."

Wanting to write more Sakura ran back out into her room and grabbed a basket full of makers she kept for school projects. On the tile in the bathroom she wrote more words.

"_Fat_" covered three tiles as she wrote the world as thick as she could. _Pig, Whore, Cow, Worthless, Disgusting, Ugly, Bitch, Unbeautiful_, all followed on Sakura's art project of tile writing. She covered every piece of tile in words that followed along those lines of self-hate and when she finished nearly an hour later, still in her undergarments, she was happy with the work she did.

She stood in the doorway of her bathroom and admired her beautiful work. Pleased with herself and feeling a small boost of confidence. After her work was done, Sakura slipped into clean clothing and headed downstairs. It was still a while before she planned on leaving for the agency, so she decided to make the phone call to Ino. Dialing her friends number, she heard it ring four and half times before she picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Ino's voice seemed drain.

"Hey...it's Sakura...it's been a while."

"Oh, yeah. What's up?" Ino's voice changed to a cheery preppy tone.

"Nothing really..." Sakura twirled some of her hair as she spoke. "I'm leaving for Kyoshi in a few and I thought I'd call you up. How have you been?"

"Great! I'm dating Sai."

Sakura racked through her brain to remember who Sai was. "Sai...you mean that creepy pale boy who's obsessed with penis's?"

Ino giggled. "Uh-huh."

"I didn't see that ever happening. Congrads on getting a new boyfriend, it happened faster then I thought it would."

Ino changed her tone to cocky. "Oh, yeah. Well, when I was at Suna and finishing a photoshoot I saw him and we started talking. He had heard from Temari's brother that I was single again and asked me out."

"How long ago did this happen?"

"Hmm...about two weeks ago."

Sakura felt crushed and a little left out for not being told about Ino's new boyfriend any sooner. "Wow, that long huh?"

The rest of the phone call concluded of topics about Ino and her boyfriend. How she deeply missed him as he was away on vacation and that she just couldn't wait for him to return. Sakura knew she would regret calling Ino, she just was hoping she was going to get a bit of attention for a change.

After over an hour of talking to Ino _about_ Ino, Sakura made up an excuse to get off the phone. "Oh, someone is at the door...Ino, sorry I have to go..." She didn't wait for Ino to respond. She hung up the phone and groaned loudly. Ino's selfish act was enough to push her over the edge some days. She couldn't even check up on her friend without being given a life story.

Sakura grabbed her purse five after noon and unlocked her car for the long drive to work. The same CD from the night before to be blasted in her car as she drove. Singing off tune to each piece of work.

* * *

Inside the agency, she heard rumors spread around fast. Tsunade didn't arrive in today and that she had left Orochimaru in control of everything that went on while she proved her innocence against the blame for Tenten's disorder. According to the rumors, she would be gone for at least four days at court and if worse came to worse she would quiet Usui and hand all legal rights to the agency to Orochimaru. 

"Is it true? The rumors?" Sakura asked Sasuke shortly after she was finished getting all of the details from the same model who was telling them to Sasuke. "Lies are spread fast...do you actually know if it's for sure?"

Sasuke nodded.

Sakura sighed and sucked on her lower lip.

"We have a photoshoot today..." Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets. "An romantic shoot..."

"That's a change of top---"

"I'm sure you're looking forward to it." Sasuke ignored her and walked away.

_What's wrong with the world today?_ Sakura shook her head and headed to her room.

Orochimaru looked happy today, confirming everything she was told in the hallways. He happily took drinks from his bottle of beer and looked at Sakura with lust in his eyes. "You always arive shortly after Sasuke, don't you?"

She was unsure of what he meant from that, but nodded in agreement anyway. "I'm feeling good about today's weight." She said in an optimistic tone of voice. "I promise you that you'll be satisfied."

He licked his lips with his long cherry tongue. "You only hope so..."

Her body shivered as she removed her clothing and stepped onto the scale. The weight was the same as it was when she woke up that morning. "84lbs."

"Mmm..." Orochimaru came up behind her while she stood on the scale and placed his hands on her hips. "It's finally starting to show...I can see your bones almost so clearly now..." One of his hands run up the side of her body making her shiver and cold. The fingers picked and prodded at the bones like Sasuke had done the night before. The same hand moved to her back and starting at her neck, he lined one white finger down her spinal cord and Sakura was tempted to scream. His hands touched around her torso, sliding up around the front and working around her apparent concave stomach. Gripping onto her rib cage and lifted upwards like he was going to rip it apart from her. "You're looking so..._beautiful_..." He pressed his lips on her neck and began to kiss her shoulders.

_No...no...I won't allow this...no..._"Orochimaru...I...need some drugs." Sakura said in a low voice. "I'm out..."

A smile crossed the mans face and he picked up his mouth. "Oh, are you and Sasuke having drug dates?" He laughed at his own lame joke. "Come back after you're done with the photos...I'll give you and Sasuke your precious drugs. But you will owe me a little payment, these things aren't cheap..."

"How much do you want?" Sakura was ready to make a reminder.

"Not money, Sakura..." He smirked and allowed his eyes to travel around her once more. "You'll pay the same price Sasuke is going to pay."

Her heart began to pick up it's pace. "What would that be?"

Orochimaru moved his mouth to her ear and spoke so quietly she could barely make out what he said. "Your body..."

"My...body...?"

"Oh yes..." He continued to whisper in that soft evil voice. "You and Sasuke will give your bodies to me for an unlimited supply of drugs...you will do whatever I ask, whenever I ask...You can handle that, can't you, Sakura?" He rubbed his cheek against hers and breathed out.

"Did Sasuke agree to do it?"

"Mmm, he said he would as long as I was gentle on your 'delicate' body if you agreed to it."

Sakura bit on her lip, thinking to herself that Sasuke was the biggest idiot in all of Japan at the moment. "Fine...I'll do it."

* * *

Sasuke was right about the photoshoot. A romantic setting of European style clothing that marked the tale of Romeo and Juliet. She giggled at the sight of Sasuke in tights once again and puffy shoulders. Big black boots and a large sword on the side. Sakura's outfit concluded of a crimson and gold dress with a trim under the breast. They tied her hair into two different braids and connected them as a crown upon her head. A blooming rose was given to her and the two were placed in Usui's back where there were several trees and bushes to give the photoshoot a more authentic look. 

He held her body close next to his as he tried to look protective over her. A few scenes of 'forbidden' love played along and one or two screens where of them leaning into kiss, Sakura's eyes barely open.

Jiraiaya was impressed with the shoot and told them that as soon as he got off of work, he would be certain to tell Tsunade about Sakura's progression after her failing past shoots.

The photoshoot ended to fast for her. After they returned to their original clothing, both teens went to the room where they started at. Orochimaru's.

Sasuke didn't say a word to her on the way there. In her mind, he must have caught on for the reason she was going at the same pace he was.

The door closed tightly and alone with the snake like man, Sakura and Sasuke looked hungrily at Orochimaru as he opened the black box which was full of several different drugs. Their bodies shaking for the toxin's. She was aware that she had a terrible price to pay for the drugs and wasn't even sure if it was worth giving up for only a few hours worth of excitement and joy. Sasuke must have been thinking the same thing while Orochimaru separated the heroine and cocaine from the box.

"What the hell is this?" An angry voice said through gritted teeth.

The three turned their heads to see Kakashi standing in the doorway of the room. His eyes narrowed as far as they could go and his large hands curled into fists that shook with angry. His head was held high and the narrow eyes were staring at the box of drugs.

"Well Kakashi, it's been quite a while since I've seen you." Orochimaru sneered, placing the lid back on the box.

"You're the one supplying Sasuke with the drugs hn? I should have known..." Kakashi walked further into the room and Sakura was pushed back closer to the wall by Sasuke, almost as if he knew something was about to happen.

"It only took you long enough to catch on, Kakashi. And as a counselor for people with drug addictions too, how very depressing..." Orochimaru took a step forward. "I figured that you, of all people would have caught on of who was giving them to him as well. After all..." He glanced over at Saske and smirked. "You were once in his position."

Sakura gasped while Sasuke's eyebrows simply bowed in confusment. Sakura laced her fingers in Sasuke's and gripped onto his arm for comfort. He returned the grip on her hand and kept his eyes on his adoptive father.

"Oh you haven't told Sasuke about your little addiction?" Orochimaru added seeing the teens' facial expressions. "Parents shouldn't hide secrets from their children."

Kakashi looked like he was about to burst in a fit of range. "That's all in the past. That life I lead before I met my fiancee' is all dead to me now."

Sakura shifted her eyes to Sasuke. He seemed to understood what was going on, she herself was still confused and was worried to see what would happen next. Fearing that Sasuke would step into the argument between the two men.

"You and Sasuke are more alike then you think. Did you know that?" Orochimaru walked towards the models and placed his hands on each of their shoulders and stuck his head in between theirs. "You'll do anything to be perfect, anything for a woman, anything to be the better person, anything to show off...Anything for drugs..." He turned his head to the side to face Sasuke better. "Though Sasuke is much quieter then you ever where, Kakashi."

"You son of a bitch!" Kakashi charged towards Orochimaru and took a swing at his face.

Sakura screamed loudly and Sasuke wrapped his arms around Sakura, pulling her down to the ground for protection. His arms stayed tightly around her body, hurting her as they watched Kakashi and Orochimaru begin to fight violently with each other. Sakura had not expected Orochimaru to be so good at Martial Arts as she watched Orochimaru punch Kakashi squarely in the chest. Kakashi had started the fight with hitting Orochimaru several times in the face but the one hit from Orochimaru he took weakened him for good.

Kakashi groaned and swung another punch Orochimaru's way, missing by only an inch.

"Why Kakashi, did you know that Sasuke even screams the same way you did?" Orochimaru kicked Kakashi's chest, making the man drop to his knees.

"Kakashi!" Sakura screamed and gripped onto Sasuke, who was still holding her close.

"You know Kakashi, if you were so angry at me for touching you and your precious child, you would have reported me years ago." Orochimaru kicked him once more just as Kakashi tried to make his way up on his feet. The man groaned in pain. "You won't ever say a word..." He grabbed Kakashi's hair and held his head back. "You, Sasuke, or even little Sakura won't ever say a word...deep down you _know_ that you _enjoy_ it..."

"Sakura..." Sasuke whispered into her ear, pulling her even closer towards him. "I want you to run for it if things get even worse, do you understand?"

"Mm-mm..." She thought things were already as worse as they could be.

Kakashi glared at the man who held his head back.

Orochimaru dropped Kakashi and stood up. Letting out a long exhaile he looked towards Sasuke and Sakura who were cuddled together on the floor. "Don't say a word about this and you know everything will be just fine." He smiled and glanced down at Kakashi.

He was slowly standing up. Staggering as he did, with no support he looked like he was about to collapse. "Sasuke...we're going..."

Sasuke let go of Sakura and walked to Kakashi, placing an arm over him to help him walk. Sasuke glanced back over and the frightened girl and didn't give her a look of any sign of what she was supposed to do next. With struggle he walked Kakashi out of the room, leaving the heroine he was so desperate for just ten minutes earlier.

"Weak as always..." Orochimaru glanced over at Sakura then smiled even more. He grabbed the cocaine by the box and brought it over to her frightened body. "You owe me deeply for this, Sakura...don't you forget about the way you pay for this. When I want your body, I will take it."

Whimpering, Sakura took the drugs from his pale hand and ran out of the room. Scared for her life, and desperate to find Kakashi and Sasuke.

* * *

Author's notes - I haven't given you such a long chapter in a long time. Hopefully this was satisfying. I can't really think of any words to explain this one. I think it's very boring to tell you the truth and it didn't take that much time to come up with at all. I mean come on, it took twenty two chapters for the story to actually get a plot? Sad... Well, lately my inspiration to do things has come from the latest Tim Burton film - _Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street._ (Heck, I'm even reading the book.) Maybe you'll get a Sweeney related story from me. Haha. I can see it now, Sasuke slashing throats and having blood spray "Mrs.Harunos Meat Pie Shop" windows. Omg...I really need a life. 

Thank you for reading and for your patience.


	23. Who I've Become

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Authors note - Ack! I am so deeply sorry for taking so long to update. Things have been so incredibly packed for me that I barely have time to sit down. You guys really have to understand that I do have a life past fan fiction and I was a little irritated off by some of the comments I was giving about harsh demands for another chapter. I'm only human, so please understand that I will need breaks from time to time. (Sighs) But I'm back now, and hopefully I'll make another update sooner then a good three-ish months apart! (I promise to make an update in June or early August.) Anyway...I decided to change my views on this story. I'm just erasing a big part of what would have been this chapter. But since it served no big purpose, I didn't feel like writing it.

My apologizes, yet again.

* * *

As Kakashi drove his car so fast that it made Sakura's stomach churn. She began to move into deep thought. Ignoring that screaming that went on between Kakashi and Sasuke and the comments that, were at time, directed to her. She cocked her head to the side and looked out the window. Watching the sun slip down and the passing vehicles fly by. Sakura had almost forgotten how beautiful Japan could be at night.

_What have I become_? She asked herself.

A seventeen-year-old anorexic drug user model who lies to everyone she knows, has been a victim of underage pornography, and wishes she could die everytime she ate. Was that truly who she'd become? Sakura glanced down at her wrists for a brief second. They weren't the bony and small hands that her mother had complained about a few hours before she left. No...they were big. Large. To her, you could not see the two wrists bones on each end that stuck out like a knife piercing through the skin. Her fingers were hardly "bony", too.

She laced her fingers together and quickly pulled them apart in disgust. _Bony? How can they be bony if I have trouble slipping them between each other_? She sighed. She didn't mind all that much being labeled as a sickly looking teen. She liked who she was becoming.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were working with him?" Sasuke argued back to a comment that Sakura did not hear. "You knew what he was going to do and you still let me work for him? Are you fucking stupid? You've had experience with him, you knew he killed Tayuya, you know what he's doing to Sakura and you still haven't said a word? Are you stupid?"

"If you think I'm stupid for not saying anything, Sasuke, then why didn't _you _just report him yourself?" Kakashi attempted calm his voice down as they drove closer to Konoha. "You saw him kill Tayuya, you've been a victim, too. And yet you claim to be taking care of it?"

Sasuke dug his fingernails into his palm, making it bleed.

"So when did you plan on being so heroic and turning in Orochimaru to save you and Sakura. Hm, Sasuke? If you knew what he's doing was so bad, why not fight or report?"

"Why didn't you?"

Kakashi then turned his head around to talk to Sakura. "I'm being good to you, Sakura. If I see you once more with drugs...I'll turn you into the police. I'm not letting you and Sasuke make the same mistakes that I did." He paused only long enough to catch his breath. He must have been yelling longer then Sakura thought. "You'll see next time..."

When he started again, Sakura began to fantasize. She didn't care for the lecture and she knew it was just another out of the next thousand she was going to receive in her life. .,

Half an hour later the violence in the car had finally settled. Sasuke walked her up to her front door. Their was mild tension between the two of them.

"On Saturday...I want to talk to you. In person. Kakashi and Rin are doing more wedding things...I'll be alone. I think it's important that we talk about it...after tonight's incident."

She nodded, knowing it was better not to ask questions. Wishing that he would kiss her and tell her that everything was going to be alright in the end. It had been a long time since she felt him kiss her.

He did not kiss her goodnight like she hoped.

* * *

Sakura didn't awake until noon the next day. When she did, she didn't move; only stare up at the ceiling that was a painful shade of white. The phone rang several times. Ino was twice, but she didn't feel like listening to her selfish raves. Hinata once, but it was just to tell her that she was going abroad for the next three weeks left in summer. Once was a wrong number, and the next was Orochimaru. Reluctant, she answered that one.

"I have a fitting scheduled for you, Sakura."

She sighed. "Do I have to come in." It wasn't a question.

Orochimaru's voice on the other line became irate and he began to yell at her about being thankful she was chosen to work for this agency and that he could fire her anytime he wished. She held the phone away from her ears as he did this. When he finished, she apologized and said she'd be on her way as soon as she finished taking a shower.

After her quick shower she opened her drawers and tried to find something to wear. Wearing something fancy, she knew, would be pointless, but then dressing lazily would bring attention, too. She finally grabbed a black tank top buried beneath light coloured tops. Debating between shorts and pants for the next six minutes she finally agreed on a very loose waisted pair of jeans that were beginning to wear out in the knees.

What she wore did not matter to her as much as it used too now.

When Sakura entered the agency she saw only one person in the hallway: Carrying two boxes under their arms, a bright orange band that looked like something from a hospital was around her wrist, legs a little wobbly, and messy brown hair pulled up into two buns; Tenten was back.

"Tenten!" Sakura cried, running up to her friend. "Oh Tenten. I'm so happy to see you. You're back? What was it like, did they really feed you three times a day? You still look really thin, how did you get away with coming out of there when you only look still to be ninety-three pounds?"

Tenten didn't look thrilled to see Sakura. Tears began to form in her eyes and she set the boxes down. "No. I'm not back, Sakura."

Sakura's smile faded.

"I'm quitting. I've had enough of this. The drama, drugs, eating disorder, everything. No more. I'm tired of becoming a negative image for young girls. I joined this agency to inspire girls. Not to make them hate themselves." Tenten brushed some tears away with her pointer finger. "I don't want to do these things anymore. I want to be like other nineteen-year-old girls. I've messed up my body enough by doing these things...Sakura, I have a scar from where they did the transplant...it's so ugly. I still have another six weeks of rehab to go under...they were just kind enough to let me get my things and tell them that I'm quitting."

"But..." Sakura tried to find a reason for Tenten to stay. Her own eyes began to tear up. "But in America they have plenty of models and actresses who do drugs and eating disorders, and people still love them and don't always follow what they do."

"I don't want to be like the Americans. Sakura...I'm going to get healthy." Tenten wrapped her arms around the girl and Sakura noticed a heavier feeling to her body then before. "I've left you a gift in your dressing room...and Sakura...understand that what Sasuke does is for your protection."

Speechless, Sakura watched as Tenten picked up her boxes again and headed out the door.

After a few moments of letting the tears drip down her face and onto the pearly floor, Sakura went to her dressing room. Relieved to find that Orochimaru had not yet come in. Her eyes scanned for the gift. It was small, since she could not see it when she first walked in.

On the scale there was a rose wrapped with an orange ribbon and a note attached that in loopy writing read her name on the front. Nervously, she picked up the rose and flipped open the card.

_Sakura, _it began, _Follow my example and recover. You __and __Sasuke. I love you and will miss you both. Forever, Tenten._

Nothing else was on the card.

_Recover? She wants me to recover?! She can't stand that she's going to have to get fat so she wants to drag me and Sasuke into it, too? Is that it?_ Confused, Sakura placed the card and rose into her purse. _Why make me recover?_

"So you did decide to come. Even after that little scene that was pulled last night?" Orochimarus all to familiar skin churning voice filled the air.

She stood up slowly. "I just want to get this fitting over with."

"You know what you must do before that." He hissed with a smile.

Nearly back into tears, Sakura removed her clothing and stepped on. She didn't bother to read aloud what the number was. It was not good enough and she didn't need a scale to tell her what she already knew.

"My! Sakura! You're almost to the perfect weight. I'd say another three pounds and you'd be _perfect_."

Slowly, Sakura dropped her head and stared down at the weight. Seventy-nine.

Seventy-nine? Over a year of hard work and she was only at seventy-nine? Now her emotions of Tenten leaving melted away and something new was placed inside her. Only seventy-nine? Only seventy-nine? She curled her fingers into her palm and bit down on her lip. With everything going on she hated to see she was seventy-nine.

"That's it?" She said softly. "Only seventy-nine?"

"Well, if you wouldn't shove your face full of food all the time you would be lower." Orochimaru chuckled. "Don't bother getting dressed. Come with me down the hall to the designer room." When Sakura moved he yelled at her and she followed.

_Only seventy-nine?_

As she tried over a hundred different gowns for a fashion show that was coming up in two weeks, all that ran through her head was the number. She remembered when she was younger and thought young women who were seventy-five to be extremely waif and unattractive. Yet, here she was, seventy-five and finding herself to still be disgustingly large.

She slipped the pale yellow gown over her head and ignored the fingers that buttoned the back up.

_Seventy-five and still standing...no one has critiqued my weight in a while. Sasuke, Tsunade, mom...no one has said much about my weight and I'm only losing more with each passing week. My signs of an eating disorder are flaring up more then ever, too. My skin is turning yellow, my nails break all the time, the clumps of my hair that falls out, the fact that none of my clothes fit me and it's only because I'm losing weight. Could that be what Sasuke wanted to talk about? My weight? I'm sick of this hypocrisy and lame excuses for not turning in Orochimaru. I'll do it myself!_

To Sakuras disappointment, the fitting ended at three in the morning. Seventeen gowns had been tried on and adjusted, sixteen pairs of shoes, and forty-two different accessories. Only four of the gowns would actually be hers to wear.

* * *

The remainder of the week dragged for Sakura. Four photoshoots were booked in that week. Jiraiya was not his usual self, nor was the rest of the staff. Since Tsunade left, almost all the life had been drained from the agency. The photoshoots were darker then most of her others. Dealing with suicide a photo she was forced to do had her cutting herself in a bathroom. The fake blood stained her wrist for hours. The next shoot was of a gun-related suicide. On the bed, fake blood was all over the walls and beautiful white bedspread. The third photoshoot finally broke her away from Orochimarus set of suicide. Simply reading a book in a bathtub. Relaxing and easy enough for any woman to pull off. The fourth photoshoot was a simple makeup add. In and out faster then she could have dreamed.

When Saturday finally was down, Sakura wanted to look her best. Sasuke had not been at the agency since the incident and was calling in with a violent case of the flu. She dressed in a modest orange sun dress that was breezy in the hot July summer.

She only had to knock once before he answered the door. His eyes looked dead and his face was sunken in, like he had not slept since she last saw him. "I hope I'm not coming too early." Sakura said softly.

"No." Sasuke opened the door more for her and allowed her in. She sat quietly on the nearest chair.

When he sat across from her, Sakura looked at Sasuke with admiring eyes. She knew perfectly well that it wasn't the time nor the place to be admiring him, but she couldn't help it. A near week was murderous for her to be away from him and even though he did look like he had the flu, she found him to still be very handsome.

"So...what is it that you wanted to talk about?" When he didn't reply, she tried to catch his attention. "Sasuke?"

Finally, Sasuke opened his mouth, breathed inward and outward deeply before speaking to her, and then; "We're getting out of this, Sakura. The drugs, the modeling, _and _the eating disorder."

Her eyes enlarged. "What?!"

"You heard me. We're getting out of this. Tenten did the right thing leaving and we need to take matters into our own hands."

"Sasuke, do you really want to take my dream away from me?"

"Dream? You call being molested, passing out from drug use and dying because you want to be thin is a dream?"

She shut her mouth and began to cry.

"Dammit Sakura...I didn't think it would come to this. I didn't want it to, either. I don't like what he's doing to us -- to you." Sasuke ran his fingers through his oily looking hair and sighed angrily.

"But..can't we just remove Orochimaru if you're mainly worried about molestation?" Her hopes for staying as a model and keeping the eating disorder were strong."Oochimaru is only part of what we need to remove."

"Why can't I keep modeling?" She snapped.

Sasuke glared at her and then grabbed her arm. "_This _is why. You look like you're dead." His fingernails began to dig into her flesh.

The grip on her arm was unbearable. He squeezed so hard she thought the bone underneath her skin was to break any second. "Sasuke...you're hurting me. Please..." More tears continued to fall and were dripping onto her dress. "Please."

"Sakura, we're going to get out of this wether you want to or not. I'm not going to be stupid like Kakashi anymore and allow him to fuck around with you. Monday, when we go in, we're taking care of this. I've already left my share of drugs at Orochimarus, I suggest you return yours. We'll start eating healthy meals together, unless you'd rather undergo rehab...and we will stop modeling." Sasuke then loosened his grip.

She pulled her arm back to her body. "And all this because Tenten quit?"

"An inspiration, more like."

"I can't believe you...Sasuke." She glared at him through her watery eyes. "Uchiha Sasuke...I can't believe you're doing this. You're going to make me fat! I won't go back to that! I refuse! I won't become fat ever again, I'm going to stay thin! I'm not going to let you ruin me by making me get fat and ugly again! No, Sasuke, this is my body and it's my choice. _My_ choice! I'm not going to let you. Do what you will with Orochimaru but I refuse to stop doing drugs and modeling and starving!" Her hands were curled into fists and her body shook with anger as she screamed at him.

Sasuke's body jolted and he raised his arm. His hand flat, ready to slap the young woman in front of him. He stopped inches before he could touch her face, making her hair blow with the wind his force created.

Once more, Sakuras eyes grew larger. "You...were going to do it..."

His other hand rose and grabbed her firmly, pulling her into an embrace. She began to sob as he took her in. He didn't rub her back to console her and he did not kiss her like she was expecting him to do. His arms just stayed around her while she furiously shook. He did not look down at her nor rest his head on hers. A stone embrace was given.

"I don't want to get fat again." She cried. "Sasuke, please." Slowly, she raised her head up and looked at him. He didn't even blink. Though energy was now lacking for her after her little fit, she pushed up her weight to be on the balls of her feet and she closed her eyes. "Please." Her face came closer to his and she wondered if he would be willing to return the kiss she so desperately wanted.

* * *

Authors note - This only took me ages to write...Well...I'm just going to clear up why it's an orange ribbon on the rose. As far as I can tell, the orange colour represents recovery for someone who has an eating disorder. I might be wrong because sometimes the colours do vary. On the colours for anorexia, bulimia, and fasting have been the ones that I've seen stay the same each time. Also people have asked me why Sakura seems really unstable with her emotions (mainly that I don't have good character writing because I make them too moody) actually a person with an eating disorder is extremely moody at times and to make it simple; it's like they have bi-polar. Their mood swings can be wild but usually it centers around depression. I hate the ending...way too OOC...much like the rest of the story. I promise a much longer chapter next time. Much longer.

Thank you for reading.


	24. Battle Begun

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Authors note - Alright. An update, when I promised, too. Though don't expect another one until late August. So...like I promised, a much longer chapter then what I gave before. Since we're entering the final chapters (I think two more plus an epilogue or something.) of the story it's going to be (attempted) dramatic. This chapter does get really vivid in the pedophile area. So if you're weak on that section I seriously suggest that you just skip the end.

(Drum roll) Dummmmm..._Model Behaviour _now has one _thousand_ reviews! (Throws confetti into the air) Yay, right? Okay...right. Back to the story.

* * *

"I don't want to get fat again." She cried. "Sasuke, please." Slowly, she raised her head and looked at him. He didn't even blink. Though energy was now lacking for her after her little fit, she pushed up her weight to be on the balls of her feet and she closed her eyes. "Please." Her face came closer to his and she wondered if he would be willing to return the kiss she so desperately wanted. Closer and closer her lips came to his and she was most certain he would finally kiss her.

To every emotion; he did.

Sasuke finally leaned his head closer to hers and made contact with her lips. Sucking on the bottom one and slipping a bit of saliva into her own mouth. It was passionate, which had been rare for Sasuke to give her one of those. Though it was deep and romantic, it didn't last long. He took his lips away from her only after a few seconds which left her in the same position she started; leaning in towards him waiting to be kissed.

"You _will _gain the weight. And you will become healthy again."

Sakura opened her eyes and realized that he was serious. She dropped her body on the chair behind her and began to cry silently. Tears slipping from her eyes as she just sat in front of Sasuke with nothing to say. Finally, she was able to speak. "You know I'll fight it. Everything."

"I know."

She brushed away her tears, which was harder then she thought when they were spilling from her so often. "And you'll do it with me?"

He nodded. "If you're ready, we'll go in tomorrow and release ourselves."

"No..." She remembered the fashion show that was coming up. "Let me do one last runway, please, Sasuke? There is a show coming up soon and I want to be in it...please, everything has already chosen for me and it's going to be big!"

Sasuke nodded again. "But the next day--"

"We'll quit. I promise." She exhaled and stood up, wobbling over to get a drink. He watched her every move as she did. Making her take the pulp-filled orange juice instead of the calorie free water. "You know...I've always wanted to model."

He was silent again.

"Ever since I was really young. I would put on my mothers clothes, jewelry, and makeup and walk around the house or stand in front of the mirror pretending that I was fierce." She took a sip of the juice, enjoying the pulp. "No one really ever thought I could do it though. They just told me I could to make me happy. Who would break a six-year-olds heart by telling them they weren't model material? Well...Ino was right all along in that. She told me that she was better then me and I was most likely going to lose the Usui competition." She licked her lips for the pulp. "Even now I'm happy I wanted to model. This is the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Sasuke continued to study her as she sat across from him.

"But you know...the best part about modeling was getting to know you better and becoming your girlfriend. That has been the best part." _Or has it? Becoming thin has been wonderful..._

The two sat across from each other with minimal dialogue. Most of it coming from Sakura. She was amazed she actually wanted to talk so much after what had just happened. After staying at his house for three hours she left. She left him with a deep embrace. Long and hands in the appropriate places. Though it was weak, she could feel him enjoying the embrace and returning it. Their embrace was, sadly, cut short from a phone call.

Though she was going to leave, Sakura waited until Sasuke was finished on the phone. When he returned he was carrying his jacket. "We're going to the hospital."

"What? I thought we weren't re--"

"Not for _you. _For Rin. She's in labor."

* * *

At the hospital, Sasuke and Sakura waited eagerly outside the door. Waiting for Rin to finish her delivery before they could come inside and see her.

"I can't believe it's already been nine months. Can you believe it Sasuke? You're going to be an older brother." She was eagerly jiggling her foot as she sat cross-legged.

Sasuke twitched beside her and changed the subject. "You may think that the baby will take my mind off of what I said early, Sakura, but it doesn't."

When Sakura opened her mouth to reply, the door opened up and Kakashi came running out with a large smile on his face. "It's a girl!" Kakashi cried. "A healthy, beautiful girl. Rin and the baby are stable now, so you both can come in."

It was a beautiful sight in Sakuras eyes; Rin, dripped with sweat from her painful experience and her hair all over the place as she held her daughter in her arms, bouncing her up lightly and cooing at her. Kyoko had a round face with fiery red cheeks with a thin layer of dark brown hair that matched her mothers. Her fingers were peeking out from the blanket and they looked almost like the size of a worm.

"Sasuke! Sakura! You're here." Rin finally observed them. "Kyoko Aiko Hatake...meet your brother, Sasuke...and his girlfriend, Sakura."

Kyoko wasn't paying attention, she was asleep now that the nurses were finished with her.

"May I hold her?" Sakura asked, hoping Rin would allow her.

"Of course. Kakashi, you did bring the camera, didn't you? I want lots of photos to remember this day!" Carefully, Rin placed Kyoko into Sakura's arms. "Mind her head. She's got a big one, like her father."

The baby felt like a weight in Sakuras arm. Uncomfortable because of it's shape, she figured it had to be at least a seven pounder child. But despite the painful weight of Kyoko, she was in awe. Her fingers were so tiny, Sakura stuck one of her own tiny fingers to Kyokos, in which Kyoko held onto. Her feet were so soft and tiny that she wondered if they made a shoe small enough for baby feet like that. Her lips were pushed outwards to give them more of a red and poofy look, and whenever Kyoko would make a little movement or noise, she was afraid she was hurting her. "She's...so beautiful..."

Rin and Kakashi smiled proudly.

Sakura walked over to Sasuke as slowly and as carefully as possible. "Do you want to hold your sister?"

You could tell that their was reluctance in Sasuke, but he took tiny Kyoko more roughly then Sakura and stared at her for the longest time. It was obvious that he was pondering over her and his past. It saddend her to remember was Sasukes older brother, Itachi, had done and now Sasuke himself was an older brother. He didn't hold her nearly as long, either. A minute or two passed before he handed Kyoko to Kakashi, who began to coo and giggle like an idiot.

"Ready for own now, Sakura?" Rin asked playfully.

Blushing, Sakura stammered. "N-no...not...fo-for many years." _Not that I could...with no period, I can't create an egg...I've gone almost a full year without one now. I'm more than certain my chances of having a child are so slim that I may need a surrogate or adoption. _"My husband will also have to be ready when I am..." She added, looking at Sasuke. "I'm only seventeen, too...having children is so far away for me of all people."

They stayed at the hospital for the next ninety minutes. Sakuras eyes were glued to baby Kyoko and everything she did was so wonderful. Being an only child, an infant easily fascinated her. She constantly held Kyoko and rocked her and was completely fascinated when Rin nursed her.

"You're such a natural at this...mothering thing." She awed.

Rin smiled and handed Kyoko back to Kakashi who was dancing impatiently for his child to be back in his arms. "It comes natural to me. Even though I was an only child, I just naturally know what to do."

"Isn't that fascinating, Sasuke?" Sakura called to the irritated boy in the corner of the room.

"I think..." Sasuke said, standing up and brushing off his jeans. "It's time for us to leave."

When Sasuke took her home Sakuras first place to go to was the bathroom. Her clothing quickly shed off as she eagerly stepped onto the scale. She frowned when she saw it.

Seventy-nine 1/2.

* * *

"After the fashion show you know what to do, don't you?" Sasuke said intensely as they pulled up to Usui.

"But Sasuke, what if he tries to hurt me? I know it's not that I'm reporting him like Tayuya, but what if he..."

"I'll be just outside the door. Waiting. If anything goes wrong I'll be able to hear it. I don't think they'll need me for anything, either." He watched as Sakuras eyes filled with tears from her fear of what he may do to her. Uncertain what to really do, he placed his hand on hers. "Everything will be fine."

They walked into the entrance slowly. This was her final show and she was going to recover. It didn't seem fair to her in anyway. What was she getting out of this? Losing a job she had wanted since she was a child, gaining so much weight, losing her drugs. It didn't seem fair to her in anyway. Sasuke was the only one benefitting. It didn't seem fair in one bit for her. Maybe this was what the "sacrifice of love" her mother had told her about when she was younger.

"I'll be waiting at your door." He said softly before turning away from her and heading to the entrance for the guests to watch the show.

"Sasuke?" Sakura quickly called.

He turned around and gave her no new expression. "Hm?"

She exhaled the breath that she felt like she had been holding for months. "I love you."

It was obvious that she had caught him off guard. His eyes grew and his mouth gaped open a bit. "I...love you, too." He said quickly before turning around and leaving her to go to his waiting seat in the audience.

Behind the long runway people played with Sakura. Grabbing her hair and pulling it back into tight buns that made her head throb. Caked makeup on her face so she had a more intense look in her eyes. The heavy jewelry and gown followed before the shoes were finally put on. Waiting in line her mind raced over what she was going to do after this show. She still was not finding it in anyway to benefit her at all. Sakura was in disbelief that she had allow Sasuke to twist her mind and make her agree to recovering.

_This isn't fair! I don't get anything out of this...just a fat body and no modeling career. _She screamed in her mind as she began to walk out onto the glittering runway; the camera lights blinding her and her head spinning from the loud music. _You just watch, Sakura, he won't even recover. He'll just keep pushing you to recover while he'll sit and do his drugs..._Sakura stopped her mind-rant as she caught Sasukes eyes within the audience. He looked different. Softer. Almost like he had compassion and it was surprising to her. When she stopped at the end of the runway and struck her three poses, her eyes were still glued to Sasuke. She didn't care that Orochimaru would throw a fit over it. When he looked at her he gave her a faint smile and nodded his head. Turning around Sakura tried to hold back from smiling. _Or not..._she said to herself. _He's doing this because he loves me..._

Walking out onto the runway a few more times, Sakura tried to hold back emotions. She didn't know these models that she was working with, but she still felt a faint connection to them because this once she had worked with them. She clapped along with the other girls through their final walk and laughed with them as they stood in a line for one last picture of their outfits.

Sakura didn't bother to change into her regular clothes. She grabbed a house coat to cover up her brasier and underwear and held onto the jeans and tee-shirt she came in.

When Sakura headed back to her dressing room, Sasuke was not waiting by the door like he promised. Sakura tried to shrug it off by convincing herself that he was caught up in the large group of people and would be waiting for her any minute.

Inside, the room had an eerie chill to it and though everything was in its exact same place, she felt uncomfortable. "My last night here..." She whispered to herself, adjusting the house coat to cover up the bit of skin that was showing from her chest. It was too chilly for her. Slowly and as quiet as possible, she began to remove her personal belongings and shoved them in a bag she kept for whenever the photoshoots took her out of the country.

Her bags where nearly full when she heard the door open.

"You looked stunning tonight Sakura. Nearly perfect." Orochimaru came up from behind her and began to rustle her hair. "But you haven't been getting any bookings for weeks...we need to try harder, now don't we?"

Sakuras body shivered from Orochimarus un welcomed and she tried to get her voice out for a minute which sounded like a baby choking. "Orochimaru, I'm quitting."

Orochimaru's fingernails dug into her skin and when he released them, he took large handfuls of hair with him as he spun her around so fast she thought she was going to faint. A look of a demon was in his eyes as he began to yell at her. "You're quitting?" He shook her so hard and fast she thought she was going to get whiplash. "You think you have the right to make that decision?" With her hair still stuck to his hands, he began to now dig his nails into her skin, puncturing it and making a few places bleed. "What makes you think you can walk out on me?! Too good for me, is that what you think?!" Tears began to fall from her as he continued to yell at her. "You're an ungrateful bitch, Sakura! If it wasn't for me you wouldn't be who you are today! You'd still be a nothing in Konoha, a freak with your large forehead only wishing that Sasuke would fuck you!" He threw her to the side and she screamed as he started to kick and punch her. "Ungrateful wench!" Each blow Orochimaru gave her felt like a bone was being broken as he continued to scream at her.

"Sasuke!" She screamed. "Sasuke! Help me!"

"'Sasuke', 'Sasuke.'" Orochimaru mimicked as he picked Sakura up and propped her firmly against the wall. "Look at this!" He grabbed some of her skin from her right leg. "Look at how much more you have to lose! Only I can make you perfect. You stupid girl, giving up perfection for absolutely nothing!" He gripped the skin tighter. "Sakura, you're a pathetic excuse for a model!" He let go of her skin and then tore off her housecoat to reveal her nearly nude body once more in front of him.

Sakura began to fight back. Trying to raise her knee up like before. Attempting to punch him away or distract him. Hitting him. Anything to escape from his grasp.

Orochimaru's tongue began to run along the side of her face. His saliva dripping from his long serpent tongue and Sakura felt like she was going to vomit. She scrunched up her face and thrashed it from side to side, trying to fight against the man. But it was useless, being pinned to wall and being weak at the same time. He began to lower his head to her neck and she began to scream and thrash more. Sakura tried to raise her knees and use the weapon that saved her the first time, but the pressure of his hips and legs against hers was too much. Her arms were useless, being barely able to move her wrists.

"Get off of me!"

"Oh, don't be such a fake, Sakura." He slipped his tongue back into his mouth to gather more saliva. "I know there has been times when I've touched you and you've yearned for more." His tongue returned to her neck and continued to try to escape.

"No!" She screamed. "Get off of me! Help, Sasuke!"

"Sasuke's not coming...he's never around when you need him the most, or have you not yet noticed?" Orochimarus face moved upwards to her face again and he slipped his tongue down into her throat, cutting off her screaming and making her gag from the size and force. He continued to kiss and touch her inappropriately. Fondling one of her breasts in a harsh way that it hurt her sensitive body.

_Sasuke! Where the hell are you?!_ Her mind screamed as Orochimaru began to remove her bra.

Orochimaru pulled his mouth away from hers and smirked. "You think that I just figured out tonight Sakura that you planned on leaving me?" He gave a small chuckle. "I'm not that slow my dear. I just didn't think you'd go through with it and so soon, too." His laugh grew louder. "Allow me to give you a going away present." Orochimarus hand move down to her underwear.

"Not there!" Sakura began to thrash her body. "Not there! Sasuke!"

He began to pull them down past her thighs when the door burst open and a sudden dark slender figure flashed before her eyes and knocked Orochimaru to the ground. He rolled off of Sakuras body, holding onto one of her wrists tightly to ensure that she would not escape from him. Everything seemed to be going fast for her but one thing was for certain; it was Sasuke on top of Orochimaru now.

It was real. Sasuke had come to save her.

Sasukes eyes were intense in a way she had never seen before. Not like the compassionate expression they were showing earlier but a fierce deathly look was burning inside of them. His jaw was tight as he yelled at Orochimaru. His fists were beginning to cover with the blood of Orochimaru. "Don't you ever touch her again!"

Orochimaru finally released Sakuras wrists and grabbed hold of Sasuke's shirt collar, twisting it with enough force that it put Orochimaru on top of him. "Jealous Sasuke?" He taunted, ripping open Sasukes shirt. "I can tell you're not loving the attention Sakura's getting. Do you miss me touching you here?" One of Orochimarus hands ran down Sasukes chest and down to his crotch. He firmly squeezed it, making Sasuke scream.

"Get off of him!" Sakura screamed, running to Orochimaru and wrapping her arms around neck, trying to choke him, loosen his grip, or pay less attention to Sasuke for him to get away.

Sakura didn't see the hand swing from the side and knock her in the face; pushing her into the dresser. Knocking her out from the trauma against the hardwood. She didn't see Orochimaru grab a nearby measuring rope and tie Sasukes arms up with them with a smirk and licking his lips, move closer to his male victim.

* * *

Authors note - Yup...I'm expecting a lot of "I'm horrified/disturbed/grossed out"'s in my reviews now. I don't really mind. You just can't say that I didn't warn you. Some of you may find Sakura's sudden "wow, maybe this recovery isn't a bad thing!" a little fake but I've read stories and watched documentaries where the girl will have something happen in her life and realize that she looks waif and needs to get better. In this case, Sakura hasn't totally figured it out that she's too thin but she's figured out the reason why Sasuke wants her to recover. Hopefully that clears it up for you. (Note - Sasuke was glomped by some fangirls. Which is why he wasn't by the door.)

I have also decided to let my dedicated readers take a say in what happens in the next chapter. Anything you'd like to see happen, you can send it in the review or a PM. Be sure to be descriptive, remember, it's only for the next chapter. It's not for the ending. I'd like to keep the readers happy, and in a thank you also for the thousand reviews, I'm going to let you have a say in what happens next!

Thank you for reading.


	25. Running from the Devil

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Authors note - (I had a wonderful time at my SLS encampment! Totally awesome!) This chapter is pretty graphic, too...or at least as graphic as I'll allow myself to write. I'm no good at writing fight scenes so this was a little complicated for me to write. I'm actually really unsatisfied with this chapter in just about every way. I swear that the last chapter will be better (even though my ending will most likely suck.) Okay! Thank you for the butt-load of reviews! Holy crap. And big thanks to _InuKagzLoverrr _for the big in-depth review about my story. What you thought of it, my mistakes, etc. Wow. So this chapter dedication (though there's nothing special about it really) goes to all of you lovely reviewers. For not only taking time out of your life to read the story, but to actually write a review for it, too. Without all of you, I wouldn't have this many!

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Sakuras' eyes fluttered open moments after she was knocked back by Orochimaru. Her head was throbbing and felt like it was bleeding from the connection with the wood and metal handle. She moaned from the pain and her eyes took what seemed like minutes to focus back together. When she was finally able to see clearly again she felt her body become cold as she witnessed a horrifying sight. She wasn't sure if she was to scream or throw up for this. Orochimaru was on top of Sasuke as he touched, licked, and kissed Sasuke all over his body.

Sasuke was withering around like a snake. His body moving in all directions as he tried to push off the heavy man on top of him. He looked sick and in so much pain and it made Sakura cringe when they made quick eye contact. She covered her mouth to hold back the vomit that she was sure would come through. As Sasuke dug his nails into the carpet to brace himself for what Orochimaru was going to do next, Sakura finally screamed.

It made Orochimaru stop. He smiled at her as he still pinned down the struggling Sasuke. "If you just be patient, you'll be next." He hissed at her playfully before going back down to Sasuke.

She couldn't move anymore. The scream took every ounce of energy she had. Orochimaru knew that, why else would he not tie her up? He knew she was weak. She began to cry, unable to control all the tears that fell down her face. She only seemed to move her mouth, which trembled or pursed together when Sasuke would scream. Her voice was weak and she couldn't continue making noises to attempt to help him. Sakura's teeth bit into her bottom lip and dug as hard she could go as Orochimaru slipped Sasuke's pants down to his knees. Her heart was pounding.

_This is it_. She screamed inside her mind. _Orochimaru is going to rape Sasuke and I can't do a thing to help him. Way to go Sakura. I'm so weak I can't even yelp._

As Orochimaru began to linger his fingers around Sasuke's boxers, her lip began to bleed and her mind panicked more.

_Move it Sakura! Move!...Move...Open your mouth...Move...Open it more...Scream again! _Sakura struggled to do her own orders. Her mouth opened but no sound came out. Not even a faint whimper. She was running out of time. Sasukes boxers were now down with his pants and Orochimaru was beginning to remove his own. _Scream! Scream! Scream!_

There was a loud bang that shook the walls of the room. Another followed.

"What the hell?" Orochimaru yelled, stopping himself while in the middle of flipping Sasuke onto his stomach.

To the shock of everyone within the room, the door burst open. Tsunade's fist foot high in the air from completing her side-kick that knocked open the door. Her eyes were full of anger, her hair wild as if she had not brushed it in days, she breathed heavily as she brought her foot down and took a small step into the room. The veins in her arms were noticeable, looking as if they were about to pop out any moment.

"Orochimaru!" She hissed out, her eyes giving Orochimaru a cold stare.

"Tsunade!" Sakura screamed out in shock, angry at herself that she could speak when it was nearly too late.

Calm as possible, Orochimaru let go of Sasuke, pulled up his pants and stood up to face Tsunade. "My, what an unexpected surprise Tsunade, dear." He smiled at her the same smile that sent chills down Sakuras body. "I thought you weren't allowed to come to Usui anymore after what happened to that stupid girl." He smirked and glanced down at Sasuke. "So what brings you here any way?"

While Orochimaru talked to Tsunade, Sakura took this as her chance to help Sasuke. She crawled over as quickly and quietly as she could and tried to untie the complicated knot of the measuring rope.

"I want you out of here, now." Tsunade said boldly. "Pack up your things and get out of my agency."

"_Your _agency? Sweet Tsunade, I could have sworn that you were on hiatus from your position." Orochimarus eyes shifted to Sasuke and with seeing Sakura trying to free him, lifted up his foot and did a kick firmly on her back that knocked the girl down with a sharp yelp and coughing. His foot remained on Sakuras back, pushing deeper as she tried to escape from the pressure. "And...if I remember correctly, you told me to take care of Usui while you were away."

"Take _care. _Not rape my models." Hissed Tsunade. "Get off of Sakura and release Sasuke. Then...get the hell out of my agency!"

Orochimaru pushed hit foot further down on Sakuras body. She began to scream in pain and Sasuke had began to swear violently at Orochimaru. "I think I'll stay, Tsunade. Sasuke and Sakura here have also given me their permission to use their bodies how I please in a trade for powder."

Another bang. Tsunade swung her arm to be a backfist and put a large hole in the wall beside her. "Now Orochimaru, out! Do not think that just because I am a woman, you can beat me."

Through the pain, Sakura struggled to move her arms from her awkward position and continue untying Sasuke. The knots were tight and the frustration of untying them increased as the seconds wore on. Her fingers felt like they were blistering from trying to pull the plastic apart. It was still slightly awkward for her to untie the rope as his lower half was completely bare and she had seen things of him that she did not want to see until they were older. Finally, the measuring rope was undone.

It stunned her, but Orochimaru had lifted his foot off of Sakura's back and at what seemed to be the speed of light, ran to Tsunade and was only centimeters from her face. His evil smile growing as he curled his fist and punched the woman in her face.

"Tsunade!" Sakura gasped out, covering her mouth.

Orochimaru lifted up his arm to punch her again but was stopped as Tsunade made the next move. Hitting Orochimaru squarely in the chest. The punching and kicking was fast and strong between the two. As Sakura sat there watching Tsunade defend herself, she was awed by how strong Tsunade truly was. It would never occur to her that the owner of a modeling agency could fight so well.

"Sakura." Sasuke hissed, his pants now back around his waist. "I want you to try to slip out and get more help. Call police and try not to be noticed by Orochimaru."

"B-but...what about you and Tsunade?"

"Never mind us, just get out while you still can." Sasuke picked up an old discarded beer bottle and gripped it firmly. "I'm going to help Tsunade."

Sakura looked at the only exit. _How am I supposed to escape? Tsunade and Orochimaru battling right in front of it. Not to mention that wherever I move to, he's going to see me. Sasuke can't do much with a beer bottle...one stab is all that's good for it. _"I can't get out, Sasuke. Orochimaru and Tsunade are in the entrance way. He'll see me if I move."

Sasuke let out an irritated hiss. "Then hide behind something!"

"Can't I help?"

"By doing what? Getting caught in a near-rape experience again? It's better if you hide. I don't want you to get hurt." Sasuke smashed the bottle against the ground and smashed the bottom half off of it to make it more like a knife.

Sakura scurried behind the desk Orochimaru usually sat at. She laid low. In a fetul position with her head up so she could see the fight. To keep warm, she had grabbed the jacket that was on the nearby chair and draped it over her back. From one of the pockets, a cell phone fell out and in front of the frightened teen. The perfect thing for a situation such as this.

The battle between Tsunade and Orochimaru continued. It seemed like it had been going on for half an hour when, glancing at the clock, it had been only three. Blood had sprayed the walls and floor from both opponents. Tsunade had a black eye and her nose was broken. She was near her end. Orochimaru seemed to be able to take more. Though he had more injures then Tsunade, he looked like he could continue.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?!" Shrieked Tsunade, dropping her guard as she watched Sasuke run towards Orochimaru.

The perfect chance for Orochimaru. Now that Tsunades eyes were on Sasuke, he made the final blow to Tsunade. A powerful kick to her head knocked her to the ground, unconscious. Orochimaru was swift, he turned around and grabbed the wrist that held the bottle and grabbed his other arm so firm that Sasuke was unable to stop Orochimaru.

"Do you think that just because Tsunade comes in that I was finished with you?" Orochimaru lifted his knee and jabbed it deep into Sasukes stomach.

Sasuke bent over and spat out, groaning in pain. "Bastard..." He groaned, lifting up his head to face Orochimaru. "I'm going to stop you if the last thing I do."

Orochimaru laughed. "I remember Tayuya and Kakashi saying similar things. You all are pathetic little beings." Using his strength, he pushed Sasuke onto the ground and got on top of him once more and began to hit the boy repeatedly in the face and stomach.

"Sakura! Get out of here!" Sasuke screamed at her.

Across the room, Sakura panicked. _Dial Sakura! Dial! Call the police! If you do it now, you can still save Sasuke!_ She knew the number she had to dial was only three simple digits but it was complicated under pressure. "Nine...one...one..." She whispered as her fingers moved slowly across the numbers. The minute she heard the dispatch, she began to explain her position.

"Please, you've got to help me! I'm at Usui Agency. M-my agent...he's attacking us."

The dispatcher remained calm; as if she had heard it all before. "Ma'am, calm down. Is he attacking you at the moment?"

Sakura huffed angrily. "No, not _me_, but my boyfriend! He's attempted to rape us both. Have you sent help yet? We need it! The woman who already tried to help us is unconscious and I think she has some broken bones. Oh, please, send an ambulance won't you?"

"Calm down." The dispatcher said again. "What is your name, and can you describe the offender?"

Tears began to flow from Sakuras eyes as Orochimaru put Sasuke back onto his stomach. "Haruno Sakura. The offender is Mikatochi Orochimaru. Tall, maybe six-foot-two, pale, long black hair that goes down to his waist."

"I'm sorry, can you repeat the last part of your description? Your sobbing makes it hard to understand. You need to calm down." The dispatcher wasn't helping.

"Argh! Dammit all!" Sakura tossed aside the cell phone and ran to Orochimaru. "Get off of him!" Her arms wrapped around Orochimarus neck, she was behind him, choking him with the little strength she had in her body. "Get off of him!"

"Stupid bitch!"Orochimaru twisted his body and elbowed Sakura in the face that made he release her grip and fall next to Tsunade.

Sasuke began to scream again. Orochimaru began grunting. Sakura began to cry more as she tried to find something to hit Orochimaru with.

The bottle.

It had rolled near Sasukes feet. If she could somehow wound Orochimaru, she and Sasuke could drag Tsunade's body out the room and call for help.

_You can do this Sakura. It's for Sasuke. _She picked up the bottle and stood at a wobbly pose, raised her arm and slashed the jagged end of the broken bottle across Orochimarus back.

Orochimaru arched his back and screamed out in pain, turning towards Sakura, his hands outstretched and fingers already at a curl; ready to strangle her. Her body was numb, she couldn't find the will to move from her fear of him touching her again. She was too afraid.

"Sakura, move!" Sasuke pushed down on Orochimarus back and twisted him so he'd fall down on his back.

Sakura stumbled backwards and tripped, scooting her body away before she finally bumped into Tsunade. "Tsunade!" She cried, checking her pulse and breathing to make sure that she was for sure alive. Tsunade did not awaken but the little moans of pain from when Sakura touched her wounds was signal enough that she was alright for the most part.

Looking back at Sasuke, it seemed like an action movie before Sakura's eyes. The one she loved was mostly naked, freshly raped, and was now on the rapists stomach punching him to the point where his knuckled began to bleed. He screamed at Orochimaru, who didn't put much of a fight up. He only laughed. Sasuke continued to scream at Orochimaru and when his hands were sore, he grabbed one of Sakuras heeled shoes and began to hit his face with the tip. It made her stomach feel weak. Blood was spraying everytime Sasuke lifted up the shoe. Her face had fine lines of blood from Orochimaru. Her body was cold and all the sound in the world seemed to be gone with exception of her sharp breaking. Sasuke was using the heel of the shoe more like a knife now and was wielding it with both hands.

Orochimaru had finally stopped laughing and had quiet himself to only small grunting noises from being hit. His eyes looked like there was hardly any life in them and the skin that had been untouched by blood looked to be an even greater shade of white. Reality finally hit Sakura.

"Oh my gosh!" Sakura screamed. "You're killing him! Sasuke! Stop it! Stop!" She wrapped her arms around Sasuke and attempted to pull him off of Orochimaru. "If you kill him, you could go to prison! Please Sasuke, you don't want to get in trouble do you? Our addiction is enough to put us in jail, please! Sasuke, stop!"

Sasuke let out a long yell and jabbed the blood soaked heel into Orochimars eye. The squishing noise and the disturbing view of the shoe heel bearing the left eye of Orochimaru made her gag and groan. Sasuke pushed the heel in as far as it could go before it stopped.

"I-I killed him." Sasuke stuttered out.

The loud buzzing of the light ahead of them irritated Sakura enough to break the silence that needed to be kept.

"Tsunade's alive. I think she'll be alright."

Sasuke did not say a word back.

"I'm sorry for what he did, Sasuke." She said in a soft voice, knowing that her words were useless to him at the moment. It wasn't her body that had just been touched by Orochimaru in the most disgusting manor and what he had done to her that night was completely unimportant compared to what actions he took upon Sasuke. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop him in time. If I wasn't such a coward, I could have st--"

"Shut up."

Chills went through Sakuras body and she shut her mouth at his words.

He staggered as he stood up and walked over to her. She wanted to debate against him walking after what just happened, but she stayed silent in fear that he would snap at her again. She followed him with her eyes just to be safe, and was stunned to see that he stopped in front of her and dropped down to her level.

The sirens of the police and ambulance filled the empty room of Usui. Much too late to help either of them now. It was so silent that Sakura could hear the orders being given out about getting a stretcher prepared.

"Sakura." Sasukes arms were suddenly around hers and he brought her in to the most loving and warm embrace that she had ever been in with him. His body faintly shook as he used one of his hands to rub the back of her head like he was stroking an injured animal. "You're safe now. He won't touch you again."

"Oh Sasuke!" Sakura returned the embrace and clung to him. She cried again, not holding back any of them and sobbing loudly as she cried into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry." She rubbed her head against his neck and ran her hands up and down his back. His skin was cold and the hair on him was raised. She felt so awkward on some levels holding her boyfriend naked, but at the same time, she couldn't find a more right position. "Sasuke...we defeated the Devil."

They stayed in the position for minutes. The police finally arrived to the room and quickly took Tsunade out on a stretcher. She was not in any critical condition and she only suffered from a broken rib. While they examined Orochimaru, Sakura shook in the fear that he may still be alive. His body laid motionless as they pulled out the heel and lifted him into a body bag. The two of them were taken to the back of the ambulance and wrapped in large, heavy blankets while they waited for Kakashi. The police questioned them while they waited. She found it awkward to tell her story but left out the fact that she was anorexic. With the drugs, she was already in deep enough trouble with the law. Sasuke didn't let her tell much of their story. He seemed to know everything that happened to her. He finally confessed everything that he had been holding inside for years.

The replies that police gave them haunted her mind. "_You two are possibly going to be charged for the cocaine...Mr.Uchiha, you did just kill a man...You witnessed a murder and did not report it? What's wrong with you?...The two of you are looking at rehab..._"

"Sasuke, what are we going to do? You killed a man, we're probably facing a few years for the cocaine, what will our parents say? What about the media?" Sakura whispered, her head spinning from the events of the night.

He didn't say a word. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder again and brought her closer.

"Oh..." Sakura leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. "I see..."

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Authors note - I'm really upset with this chapter. I can not write fight scenes to save my life. Really. I'm awful at fighting scenes. They just don't come to me. I hate how OOC Sasuke is...you guys wanted me to give him some affection towards Sakura and it killed him. Omg...in the last chapter just wait until how he'll grow in his OOC-ness when I end it. The next chapter is our final chapter (throws pre-party confetti in the air) Nice big gooy SasuSaku moment to come in that chapter.

Thank you for reading.


	26. State of Mind

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Authors note - Our final chapter of _Model Behaviour_. Can you believe I've actually finished this story? I'm absolutely disappointed in my last chapter so I really hope this one makes up for it. I apologize for the absence...school is taking so much out of me this year. Again, I thank every single one of you that read, reviewed, gave suggestions, helped, and encouraged me to write. Without you guys this story would still be rotting. Also, the amazing talented Shearis (who happens to be my best friend ever and a major inspiration for life in general) drew two more fanarts for this fanfiction! The links are in my profile, so please take a look at them. (Because her artwork kicks ass!) So here we go (drumroll) the final chapter!

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Sakura was unsure if Sasuke felt the same way; but from the moment the police had left the two of them alone, time stood still. Though she was completely conscious of every action that took place within the next two weeks, she felt like she was on pause while the rest of the world carried on like nothing had even happened. Few things from that night are vague. She faintly remembers Kakashi wrapping his arms around them while he silently cried. Her parents looking confused and were shocked to hear all that had happened from Rin while Kakashi comforted the children. The police and doctors poking and pulling at the two of them. Giving them new clothes that didn't fit them and checking their blood pressure as they drove quickly to the hospital.

Nothing else from that night could be remembered after she entered the bright hospital hallways.

She only then remembers awaking the next afternoon with an IV in her wrist and a feeding tube in her mouth. Sakura was horrified by the discovery and reached to remove the IV from her body until a cold, pale hand stopped her.

"Don't". Sasuke said in a soft voice. "This will help you get better".

"I must look like a wreck, having this thing in me..." She pointed to the feeding tube. "Is there a mirror nearby?"

Sasuke released her hand and pulled out a small hand-mirror from her purse that she figured had been brought to the hospital after she was admitted by Rin.

"Oh I _do_ look like a wreck!" She poked at the feeding tube. "They're going to make me wear this even after I get out! I bet you anything they will."

"You don't look like a wreck." Sasuke said in his usual soft voice.

"Of course I do! Sasuke you idiot, look at me. I look so ugly. My hair is disgusting, as if it's never been washed, my skin is extremely oily. I'm disgustingly fat, too. I must've gained weight! Oh Sasuke, I haven't been in here long enough for me to gain weight, have I?! I can't gain any weight, I won't be able to fit my clothes anymore, and I---"

Sasuke cut her off. "Sakura, you _are_ beautiful."

She sat on his words in a near awkward silence while small tears ran down his face. "You don't need to lie to me."

"I'm not. You are beautiful. Since I met you, I thought you were."

Sakura turned a pale shade of pink from blushing and sighed. "You're delusional."

"No. That's you." He stood up from his hard chair, brushed some loose strands away from her face and then kissed her forehead. "You made a deal with me Sakura, I want you to go through with this. Before I killed Orochimaru, you seemed happy to recover. What changed it?"

She nodded. "I can't be fat again...I don't want to gain all that weight back."

"Annoying." Sasuke muttered in an irritated tone. "Starving yourself doesn't make you a better person, happier, smarter, not even better looking. You're a model, aren't you? Being underweight and then taking pictures promotes this to others. Do you want to do that?"

"No, but..."

"Recover Sakura. Be happier, smarter, and a better role model."

* * *

The trials against Orochimaru seemed to last forever. Even if it was a quickly resolved case, the few trails she attended and having to repeat the events she went through did not make her feel comfortable. The feeding tube that was still in her body at every event, made her feel even more uncomfortable as she would notice the few stares and whispers people of the jury and audience would give her. Every trial she attended threw all the mistakes she made back in her face. Asking her if she knew what had happened was wrong and why in her right mind did she not report them. Sasuke was given the exact same trails, but Orochimaru's lawyer seemed to give him more of the guilt trip while Sakura was pointed out to more of an idiot.

"You're telling me that Miss Haruno wanted to report and you persuaded her to not to?"

Questions like that carried on for weeks.

It enraged Sakura almost more than anything to see that someone would actually attempt to defend a rapist and drug dealer.

Finally, the end trial came. She was frightened beyond belief. Afraid that she and Sasuke would only be seen for their use of drugs and stupidity on not reporting him and that prison would soon await them instead of finding Orochimaru guilty.

Sakura held her breath the entire time the jury came back out to the courtroom. Her lungs and heart ached from lack of energy. Why did they have to take so long? Slowly, the woman replied and in a firm voice said what they thought Orochimaru was.

_Guilty._

All the air she held, was released from her body and tears came from her eyes as she jumped into Sasukes arms and laughed while crying with joy.

"Consider yourselves lucky." Said Kakashi as he wrapped his arms around them both into a bone crushing hug. "Very stupid, but lucky."

"What do we do now?" Sakura whispered, still in disbelief that their issues with Orochimaru were finally finished.

"You two can finally live happily ever after?" Kakashi joked, nudging Sasuke in the ribs.

Sakura smiled softly. Happy ever after seemed like a perfect idea at the moment.

* * *

**Eight months later.**

"Are you sure you don't want a larger piece, Sakura?" Rin raised an eyebrow as she finished placing the small piece of chicken onto the plate. "I'm sure you'll want something to eat that actually has taste after all of that horrible hospital food."

Kakashi looked away from Kyoko. "Rin...she just got out of recovery. Feeding her larger bits will still take some time."

Sakura stared down at the meal Rin just finished putting on her plate. She had only been out of the hospital for a few weeks and this dinner was some way for Rin and Kakashi to celebrate. Though she was grateful for the meal Rin had worked hard to cook, she was not in the mood to eat at all.

"Oh Sakura, you look so beautiful now that you have some weight on you. Your pretty green eyes sparkle again." Rin said happily as she set down the pan and took a seat next to her husband. "And Sasuke, you look to be in such a better move now that we've taken care of your issue." Rin sighed happily and picked up some rice with her chopsticks.

Sasuke returned a weak smile to Rin.

"Your social life isn't a mess is it, Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

She pursed her lips together for a moment and thought hard on the question. "Hard to say." She replied. "Almost everybody is supportive and is trying to make sure I eat and feel comfortable where I am. A few boys like to make jokes out of it...that hurts me at times." Sakura took a drink before continuing. "The girls aren't better themselves. They're just as bad as the boys. Watching me with dark eyes and making comments when I want to be alone or a sigh when I'm eating...or even if I do finish my entire meal. When the next 'High School Scandal' arrives, I'll be ecstatic."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Kakashi said softly before returning to his meal.

Sakura picked up her own set of chopsticks. A little hesitant to start eating. Meals still weren't exactly enforced in her house. With parents never being home, her life concluded of a fend for herself these days. It was only on dinners with Sasuke and his family did she actually eat normally. The meal was good. Rin was right, she did enjoy having food with actual flavor when she ate.

"Excuse me, please." Sakura smiled leaving the table after he dinner was done.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked, a prying hint to his tone.

Sakura turned pink and faced him. "To use the bathroom."

In the bathroom, Sakura locked the door and spent the first few moments in the bathroom with her shirt lifted up to her small breasts. Her hand rubbed up and down her stomach. It was growing. Large and larger as the weeks passed on. Deep down in her heart she was sure that people were whispering about it since it was so obvious. She sighed and tugged her shirt down to cover her stomach and pulled the hair tie off of her wrist and began to pull her hair back into a sloppy ponytail.

She turned on the water to the sink and bent down in front of the toilet.

Deep breathing took place before she tilted her head backwards and muttered under her breath, "Do it...!" She slowly put her head back down and lowered her body closer to the toilet. She took her pointer finger and stuck it down her throat. Further and further her finger went until she purged every ounce of food out of her body. It took several tries before the food was entirely out, but Sakura was pleased with the new feeling that overcame her stomach.

Once finished she flushed the toilet and rinsed her mouth clean with the mouthwash under the sink. Her eyes were watery and she looked like she had been crying. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" She said to her reflection after she finished drying up her eyes. Sakura brushed her mouth once more just to be safe, and then headed back downstairs to join Sasuke.

This time, she was determined to keep this secret stronger.

* * *

Authors note - I can't write endings to save my life, now can't I? I'm really sorry that the ending chapter is a very short one, but I've been so busy this school-year that I could hardly find the time to write fuller details. So I know this is a highly unsatisfying ending and it does give you a bit of a cliffhanger, but I wanted to go away from the "Happily Ever After" finale.

Expect another eating disorder fiction sometime soon! If you have some form of a Naruto-verse eating disorder story you'd like to see, feel free to PM with what you'd like to see next so I can satisfy the readers better.

Thank you for reading


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